1,500 rally against Putin in Russian Far East

1,500 rally against Putin in Russian Far East

uk.news.yahoo.com

Kremlin critics declared a national day of protest in a bid to mobilise those angry at the government's handling of the worst economic slump in a decade, after local elections showed a drop in support for the ruling party.

To cheers from the crowd on a snow-covered square, leaders of a coalition of opposition groups read out a list of demands that included the dismissal of Putin's government and the return of direct elections for governors, scrapped in 2004.

Most banners focussed on economic demands, including reversing recent hikes in charges for municipal services, increasing pensio

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It would appear the Russian people will not take the economic meltdown in Russia lying down. As well as protests in Vladivostok there have also been larger demo's in Kaliningrad.

''In the past few months, the Russian leadership has been cautiously watching events unfold in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave of a million people sandwiched in between Poland and Lithuania.

On January 30, anti-government protests attracted more than 10,000 people - the country's largest demonstration of its kind in a decade. Gathering on Kaliningrad's main square, protesters called for Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, and the regional governor Georgy Boos to resign''.

english.aljazeera.net...

The Kremlin also shut down a website that was calling for people to hit the streets and protest on this national 'Day of Wrath', which has been occuring since 2008.

en.rian.ru...

The Russian media like to portray Putin as a man who is a popular and charasmatic leader when in reality there is alot of hate directed towards the man who the people blame for high unemployment, tax rises and corruption.

Is there a force within Russia that could actually take Putin on? Where is President Medvedev in all this? What will be the Russian Police response?

Thanks.

uk.news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)





[edit on 20-3-2010 by Peruvianmonk]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, bad news that it is. The Russians are a pretty passionate people, who have been crapped on pretty hard by their leaders pretty much forever. They might just protest, but they also might actually start something. I will start monitoring this thread daily, whether I like the news it brings or not.

reply to post by warpcrafter


Yes the economic slump in Russia ia bad news.

Russian unemployment was officially at 9.2% in Feburary and we all know in reality it will be alot more than that when you take into account those who have stopped looking for work and those underemployed.
steelguru.com...

But i would say these protests are good news. It shows Russia holds a well versed, passionite population who will fight against a government, which lets just say is not wholly transparent, and can resort to violence quite freely to put down its enemies.

Opposition is very weak in Russia - I dont expect any escalations. People who are demonstrating are mostly older people... Friends of good old Soviet Union.

Mainly population knows that Putin and Medvedev is not responsible from world wide recession, but over all - I see its good that people are using their legal rights and making their demands.

1) is a rally of 1500 in a city of... call it 600,000 including outlying areas a sign of major change, or slight discontent?

2) How many of the rally participants were used car dealers? The Article gives that angle pretty light treatment, but that's actually a massive issue right now. Those guys were importing staggering numbers of used Japanese cars until Putin closed that loophole, and a LOT of people got stuck with massive inventories that they can't move. I've heard estimates that there are over 100,000 vehicles in Vladivostok and Sakhalin, all used, all from Japan, and all unsellable in Russia. I'd be willing to bet that a significant percentage - over half - of the people protesting were there because of that issue.

I'm not trying to downplay the protest - a couple of my friends in Sakhalin have been affected by this, and I think their anger is justified. What I am questioning, however, is the implication that this story is about venting anger over the recession - aside from the fact that cutting off this emerging industry has caused a mini one in Vlad and Sakhalin.

reply to post by vox2442


Well its something in a country like Russia. Those 1,500 in Vladivostock were also cheered by thousands of onlookers.It is also coupled with a rally of 10,000 people in Kaliningrad which i have mentioned above.

I agree, it may be nothing more than just a blip on the radar, or it may be the start or continuation of a movement to demand more from their government.

From the Guardian

n an ironic twist, the government has been forced to give in to opponents of liberal market reforms. Following the Kaliningrad protest, it has promised to slow the post-Soviet desubsidisation of utilities like heat and water. That will only widen a budget deficit expected to exceed 6% of GDP this year.

"The leadership is scared," said Solomon Ginzburg, an independent deputy in the regional Duma. "I have been saying the Kaliningrad region is an indicator – in nine months, it will be all over Russia."

www.guardian.co.uk...

So could these protests spread? If economic conditions do not improve then it may well be the case.

[edit on 21-3-2010 by Peruvianmonk]