Russia yesterday came to terms with its second mass opposition rally within a month which was even bigger and more sharply critical of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin than the first such protest two weeks ago.
Organizers said 120,000 people attended the extraordinary rally in central Moscow on Saturday where protesters chanted slogans against Putin and called for the annulment of this month’s disputed elections won by his party.
Police put the numbers at 29,000, but foreign correspondents said the turnout was clearly bigger than the first rally two weeks ago which smashed the taboo in Russia against mass opposition protests.
The last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev also dramatically called on Putin to quit, just as he had done on Dec. 25, 1991 when the USSR collapsed exactly two decades ago.
“This is not an outburst which will die down. This is not about the protests, but about the mood,” said Yevgeny Gontmakher, head of the Center for Social Policies at the Moscow-based Economics Institute. “There is a danger of a revolution. Authorities are making concessions, but are not keeping up with the development of the events.”
Russia’s state television took the surprise decision to cover the rally hinting at an easing of a long-held taboo against direct criticism of Putin, who came to power 12 years ago and wants to stay at the helm until 2024.
“Sharply negative appraisals of Vladimir Putin have been voiced several times,” a report about the rally broadcast on the Channel One said on Saturday night.
With opposition supporters stepping up their challenge to Putin in a campaign first triggered by claims of fraud in Dec. 4 parliamentary polls, a growing public anger against Putin has become impossible to ignore.
“Channel One honestly speaks of the anti-Putin nature of today’s meeting. That obviously cannot be pure coincidence,” said Vladimir Varfolomeyev, a commentator with liberal Echo of Moscow radio.
Putin — who announced a plan to leave his current post as prime minister to reclaim his old Kremlin job in March presidential polls — is struggling with the worst legitimacy crisis of his rule.
Mass protests were triggered by widespread claim of wholesale violations in the parliamentary polls this month which handed a reduced majority to Putin’s ruling United Russia party.
Protesters called for the annulment of the ballot, sacking of the Central Election Commission chief and a re-run of elections. Hoping to ride out a wave of protests, Putin ignored those demands and promised instead a return to direct election of governors and a simplified procedure to register political parties.
In defiance of protests, the newly elected lower house of parliament convened for its first session earlier this week.
Incensed by Putin’s claims that opposition supporters were in the pay of the US Department of State and insults comparing them to an anti-AIDS campaign, protesters are now taking their anger out directly at Putin.
Most Russians lost their taste for street politics in the chaotic 1990s and the scale of the current protests is a major boon for the fragmented opposition, which had for years struggled to encourage Russians to take to the streets.
Many had also feared that the opposition would not manage to repeat the success of the first Dec. 10 rally after the initial anger subsided and Russians would leave for warmer climes for the 10-day New Year’s break.
The protest movement — which brings together a charismatic anti-corruption blogger, a detective story writer, musicians and a former finance minister — does not so far have a clear leader, but is gaining momentum.
The blogger, 35-year-old Alexei Navalny, vowed that a million people would attend the next anti-Putin rally, but the opposition has yet to announce when this will happen.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was