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Protesters Chant for a "Russia without Putin"
MOSCOW - In the middle of the crowd on Saturday at Russia's largest opposition protest in years, a big banner bore a simple message: Putin must go.
People hold a rally to protest against violations at the parliamentary elections in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk December 10, 2011. (Credit: Reuters/Ilya Naymushin)
Anger over Russia's December 4 parliamentary election drew a diverse crowd to a cold embankment in Moscow, where they stood for hours under wet snow to demand a rerun of a vote Putin's foes say was rigged in his ruling United Russia party's favor.
But while organizers did not include the prime minister's resignation in their list of demands, much of the ire was directed at Putin.
For Olga, 38, the vote reconfirmed a conviction that as Putin has gained power over more than a decade as president and then prime minister, the people he governs have become increasingly powerless.
"It's his system," said Olga, a Muscovite who would not give her last name.
Felix, 68, a retired military officer who remembers the hug demonstrations that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union 20 years ago, said he wanted Putin out but had no hope that this could be accomplished through elections.
"There is no way to change those in power within the electoral system they have set up, so we need to use other methods," he said, waiting for friends on a subway platform before the rally and ignoring a policeman with a megaphone calling for people to leave the station.
"More radical actions are needed, but the people are not ready for that yet ... so for now we will protest," he said. "People must have their say and express their opinion."
PUTIN ON PATH BACK TO PRESIDENCY
At the protest, one man did so silently. Standing almost motionless for minutes at a stretch, he held a simple A4 size sheet of paper printed with the slogan: "Mr Putin, my civil rights are not your property."
Most of the protesters were more vocal, mixing shouted calls for a new election with chants of "Down with Putin!" and -- one of the standard slogans at much smaller protests held by Kremlin foes before the election -- "Russia without Putin!"
That Russia may not come for years, despite nationwide protests whose size -- unthinkable even a few weeks ago -- prompted one speaker to say that opposition flags would soon fly from the Kremlin's towers.
Recent opinion polls have shown Putin, president for eight years until 2008 and prime minister since then, remains the most popular politician in Russia.
He can count on millions of votes in a March 4 presidential election in which polls indicate he will win a six-year term. If he does, he could run again and potentially rule until 2024.
"Putin won't leave and there won't be any major changes in the country," said Ernst Klyavitsky, 75, a rewired electrician who said he had "never missed a protest" against Communist rule as the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse.
"But the authorities need to know how angry we are," he said.
They know now and are frightened, said Boris Baranov, 36, analyst and translator for a Moscow engineering firm who waited outside a kiosk near the protest site as his friends stocked up on rolls to fortify them during the four-hour rally.
"Authoritarian governments are more sensitive to public opinion than many think," Baranov said.
On the streets around the protest site at Bolotnaya Square, hundreds of helmeted riot police with truncheons and body armor and trucks full of troops seemed to support his argument.
"You can tell that those in power are worried -- they fear this," Baranov said of the protests.
(Additional reporting by Thomas Grove, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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37 Comments so far
Show AllAll over the planet people have had it with corrupt political entities in Russia, the US[K], Greece, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, or the European Union. Is it too bold to describe this movement as a moment of grace?
People have always been discontent with their governments: it may just be that now, there is more information about it via the internet and a facility for organising that discontent into protest. It is crucial, therefore, we protect the freedom of the internet. There are few protests in China, where the internet is strictly censored and monitored.
Just a thought upon the missing majority - "The Politics of Aristotle;" Book 5, Chapter 8: "Preserving Regimes" states "for when [men] are afraid, they get a better grip on the regime. Thus those who take thought for the regime should promote fears ...make the far away near" - in re: Leiberman's S. 1546 auth dhs prog with ref to sect 113(d)(2): emerg ops, stating "assistance is needed to supplement State and local efforts and capabilities to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe" and the need to awaken the sleeping masses for the support of the peacefully courageous.
" the hug demonstrations"
That's sweet, why is everyone so mad?
Very suspicious all this. As Moon From Alabama puts it: "United Russia's share of the vote was less than all the independent polls predicted. If the party or the government it leads really manipulated the election why would that be the case? Did they really give themselves less votes than the pre-election polls have led anyone to expect?
Would someone manipulating an election in the U.S., local or nationwide, organize for less votes to their cause than independent pre-election polls would suggest? Why?"
See http://www.moonofalabama.org/
And note that the Communist Party and an ex-CP affiliate leftist party came in 2nd and 3rd to the UR, but they aren't demonstrating. Very suspicious.
Or it could simply be the case that even with vote rigging and manipulation they didn;t get as many votes as they wished and if that had been taken out of the equation they'd have polled even less.
went in twice so I cut it.
I smell dead fish.
Frankly, despite the enthusiastic and negative reporting by Western journalists the lack of factual information leaves me unable to draw any conclusions about the magnitude of this issue, including what the opposition partys stand for. Anything I have read about them is frankly disturbing. Putin stood up to the oligharcs installed during Yeltsins time and dealt firmly with some of them, has stood firmly against the meddling of the US and NATO in the Russian sphere such as in Georgia and has consistently condemned the wars in the Middle East including the latest threats to Iran. No doubt a strong and somewhat autocratic leader but anything else in Russia would be devoured by the vultures out there.
Earth First failed to include the US when mentioning corrupt political entities. Wall Street and an oligharcy have bought the US Congress to do it's bidding. and the crimes of the Bush presidency and the bankers remain unpunished. The list of their crimes is long.
This story appears to be a lot of US right wing hard line hot air pressing for a another Cold War with Russia. We don't need that even if this were true, which I've seen some relatively good evidence on another progressive web site which I won't name out of respect for the policy on comments. Be that as it may, some solid evidence is out there that the source or sources of these reports is phony and backed by Western power elites. Might it not well be the case that such elites seek to distract our attention from the abuses of Wall Street and their like numbers in Western Europe and from the OWS movement right when such movement is gainging such traction with people internationally and right here in the USA as well? I offer that as question to all on this forum to ponder-- thanks and all the best for a better and more egalitarian world in which we can live in peace with others everywhere in this world.
This story appears to be a lot of US right wing hard line hot air pressing for a another Cold War with Russia. We don't need that even if this were true, which I've seen some relatively good evidence on another progressive web site which I won't name out of respect for the policy on comments. Be that as it may, some solid evidence is out there that the source or sources of these reports is phony and backed by Western power elites. Might it not well be the case that such elites seek to distract our attention from the abuses of Wall Street and their like numbers in Western Europe and from the OWS movement right when such movement is gainging such traction with people internationally and right here in the USA as well? I offer that as question to all on this forum to ponder-- thanks and all the best for a better and more egalitarian world in which we can live in peace with others everywhere in this world.
Putin hasn't really stood up to the oligarchs. He hasn't gotten rid of all of them. He hasn't (re)nationalised their ill-gotten wealth. What he has done is place them under some control / given them the option of working (to a certain extent) with the Russian government / him.
As for the (neo)liberal reporting by western journos, that's what they do. They pine for a return to a Yeltsin type (neo)liberal puppet, not least because of the natural resources that Russia has.
Owing to the United States' hostility towards (post-communist) Russia for years now, I remain reserved until news from sources other than Reuters comes my way.
I see the hand of US in all this.
Do you? The ability of the US to influence any outcomes in Russia is pretty limited.Whatever happens, they will do it their way. Like Frank.
Authoritarian control of government is an aberration. Self-rule by the people is all we know.
I've been working in Russia for the last three years, and I'm quite sure about a few things:
1) While Putin's popularity has declined, he is still far and away the most popular politician in Russia.
2) Most Russians do not see a credible alternative.
3) Any dissatisfaction with social and economic conditions today must be seen in the context of the near universal recognition of the vast improvement over the hell of the
1990's "shock therapy" /gangster capitalism/oligarchic-privatization period before Putin.
4)The political elites of the U.S. and Europe are no doubt promoting and assisting the some opposition forces, following the classic "colored revolutions" playbook, but they did not create the protests out of whole cloth. Militant opposition is real, but relatively small, and not widespread. There are vastly greater protest movements in the U.S. and Europe.
5)Mainstream news in the West is highly biased against Russia and not at all trustworthy. BBC news is one of the worst in this regard.
Thanks for your input. Like other readers, I'm not as familiar with Latter-day Russian politics as I should be.
Thank you for you intelligent commentary on a subject which few of the posters here are equipped to discuss. They prefer to mong the usual cliches.
Your 1 & 2 have summed it up.
Putin isn't loved, and people have no illusions about him. BUT, the (liberal) alternatives are all seen as much much worse. Yes, there is opposition and dislike, but it is hardly the widespread opposition that western liberals pretend it is.
")Mainstream news in the West is highly biased against Russia and not at all trustworthy. BBC news is one of the worst in this regard. "
The UK Guardian is the worst in this regard. Every article that the Guardian writes on Russia can essentially be summed up as: Putin is a horrible macho ex-KGB guy, replace him with some liberal oligarch (Mikhail Khordokovsky, who will then help in the looting of Russia's resources by western liberals).
Given the protesters some credit. It takes more guts to protest in Russia than in the US.
every time there's unrest, turmoil , in any part of the world
think u.s. [the usual suspects...cia, mi6]
it wouldnt be far off the mark
http://tinyurl.com/cv84rl9
http://tinyurl.com/c3e2pk4
http://tinyurl.com/cs6kl8h
denk: i automatically think as you advise; and, every time Hitlary opens her mouth to trash a Putin, a Zelaya or a Gaddafi, i become more convinced of where the problem really lies.
rama
problem is
no one can touch uncle sham,
too bad there isnt an amerikkan embassy, aka coup specialist, in washington dc
;-)
Propaganda. "Everyone wants to be rid of their governments, except the (corporate-controlled) USA! Gawd Bless America!"
JimX, exactly.
As the theme song from the old Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me" accurately states "Nobody Does It Better" --- when it comes to running a sophisticated sham of faux-democracy behind the facade of a modernized Two-Party 'Vichy' propagandist regime than the "American Exceptionalism" of this disguised global Empire.
That's right, "Nobody Does It Better" than the our former country in appearing to be a democracy, and covering up the Empire.
Thus it is with American Exceptionalism that the US nominal headquarters of this well hidden, disguised, and camouflaged facade, which uses the polite sounding term 'globalism' to camouflage the reality of 'global Empire', can point the accusing finger (or the shrill voice of Ms. 'deadlier than Willy' Clinton) at any other country in the world and say, "you must be more democratic, like US" ---- despite the facts that the US HQ of this cancerous global Empire has; more over-seas military bases than all other countries combined, has the highest/worst GINI Coefficient of Income and Wealth Inequality than Russia, China or any other major country, has imprisoned a higher percentage of its own citizens than any county in the world, has allowed its protected Wall Street crooks to loot more than $43T from the rest of the countries in the world, has started more wars in the past 2 decades than all the countries of the world combined, sells 70% of the world's weapons of mass destruction, etc. etc.
But, "do as we say not as we do", because otherwise this global Empire will ___k you, bankrupt your country, assassinate any leader the Empire wants, and be applauded by the Empire's global corporatist media as a hero for ___king you.
It's not a fair system, which the Empire might admit --- but it's what Empires do, and besides, we're not stupid enough to ever let any other leader call US an "evil empire", even though this last empire on earth is both 'evil' and an 'empire'.
Best luck and love to Occupy Empire.
Liberty, democracy, justice, and equality
over
violent/Vichy
empire,
Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine
Yes, Lashe, some socialist organizations were among those who were opposed to Putin. Yet we all know the dangers of "socialists" who were actually in the pay of international capitalism, and until the smoke clears those who want - at least - an independent Russia might be better off with Putin.
put the amerikkan embassy under 24x7 surveilance pronto !!
http://tinyurl.com/86lodmz
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. Almost as before, we now have the US Empire vs. The SCO--Shanghai Cooperative Organization, which is most of Asia, about 2 Billion people, including Iran. And for those without a basis for current events, I defer to the master Halford MacKinder, whose works I discovered in Library, but are available online, Especially "The Geographical Pivot of History," which Orwell was well aquainted with, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0016-7398.2004.00132.x/abstract
I'm watching the Vremya (generally pro-government) news channel right this moment in Russia. A lot of coverage on the election. This is what they are reporting: There are now five parties in the Duma (parliament) for the first time in history, marking a historic shift toward greater party plurality. United Russia ( Putin/Medvedev's party) now longer has a two-thirds majority and must now negotiate with the other parties. Medvedev says that some people are happy with the election, others are unhappy--and this is completely normal for a democracy. The Communist Party leader, Zuganov, takes questions in a news conference: he and the opposition party leaders accept the election results. Leaders of the smaller parties are satisfied that they have significantly increased their representation in the Duma. The head of the election commission, which oversees the ballot counting etc,. is looking into thousands of complaints, and reviewing a huge amount of video footage taken by election observers. They show footage of boxes of ballots being dumped unceremoniously on the floor, and later picked up and put on a big table--indicating some kind of improper behavior. Lots of coverage of protests in Moscow and elsewhere; lots of interviews with protesters, who say they want "more democracy", want new elections, etc.-- but no one expresses any other particular political agenda. Medvedev says there are established legal procedures for challenging the election results, and that the rule of law must be maintained. "There is no other way," he says.
The Russian protests are compared to protests in the U.S., Greece etc. They show footage of New York police roughly clearing out occupiers; violence in Greece; police clamping down etc. The point seems to be: if laws are broken, the police must respond--law and order must be maintained; and/or that protests are normal in Western-style democracies. Putin talks about his upcoming presidential campaign. He's hired a famous old film director/politician to be his campaign manager. (Putin's starting to get some grey hair!). They show Putin in a large cabinet meeting. Lots of discussion. A woman reads from a report listing opposition groups and the amounts of foreign funding they are receiving... etc. To repeat: this main news channel which is generally pro-Putin/Medvedev.
One correction:
The 2 largest parties support Putin. They oppose each other, but they both are pro-Putin. That United Russia no longer has a commanding majority, isn't that big a deal, since Putin has been careful not to tie his political fate entirely to United Russia. Even the Communists, when push comes to shove, get in line.
I smell a rat - one that reeks of a Heritage Foundation 'color revolution' psych op...
The last thing the US/NATO/Israel needs right now in Russia is a strong nationalist leader smart enough to see what the 'west' has in store for Russia... The trap they've set is almost ready to be sprung.
The last of Russia's allies (Syria, Iran) are about to get the regime change treatment and once that's done, Russia itself is next on the list as the encirclement of their country with US Military bases and missile defense installations clearly indicate.
Reuters is a news agency I do not trust. It represents the 1% only.
Do you trust Common Dreams?
"Vladimir Putin wins China's support, peace prize" (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-12-09/europe/30497305_1_united-russia-qiao-damo-confucius-peace-prize)
"The organisers of the Confucius Peace Prize, set up in a riposte to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo winning the Nobel Peace Prize last year, said they had chosen Putin because of his opposition to the NATO attacks on Libya."
"He has a righteous heart," Qiao said. "Many people died in the Libya war, not just soldiers, but civilians and children."
There is a brave new world outside the US media defense shield. Read all about it in foreign press.