Symphony rehearsal

"League of voters": who and how is preparing a protest action on February 4

Are you at the choir rehearsal?

“Yes,” the passers-by answered almost in one voice and with a laugh.

After that, the DK guard kindly informed that it was not worth breaking into the main entrance, but you should go around it from the side and find some kind of iron door in the wall under the corresponding number.

This is how the organizers of the march on February 4 gathered on the rehearsal base of one of the little-known, but ideologically impeccable musical groups, on Monday evening, who seriously intend to change the order of life in their native country.

The organizers of this truly secret and password-encrypted vespers asked its participants only one thing - in no case should they mention the exact address of what was happening in the media. Because precisely because of the too wide popularity of the previous meeting place of the activists of the so-called “Protest Action Workshop”, it had to be abandoned.

We have one rule. First, tell us what you have already done, and then tell us what else you need,” the leader of the meeting, well-known journalist Masha Gessen, set the stage.

And then it started.

Volunteers of the "food front" reported that they brought 38 kg of dryers to the rally on Sakharov Avenue at their own expense ("Anna did all this, she went twice, and I helped - let's pat her"). But on February 4, we need not only drying, but also cookies, dried fruits and just crackers, as well as water and more - for hot tea, which will be boiled on the spot. The slogan "Baranki - forward!" was immediately put forward, under which the further unification of the food workers took place.

“On Sakharov Avenue, before and on the rally, we distributed 70,000 stickers,” boasted the chief coordinator of graphic support for the protests. — But we urgently need creatives and stencils!

- We are ready to provide a single multi-channel number for lawyers who will help in case of detention of participants, - without getting up from his chair, but loudly and impressively, a representative of one of the largest private telecommunications companies said. - Just give the lawyers themselves.

“Yes, they are, they are, write down the phone numbers,” they shouted from their seats.

“White ribbons must not only be cut off, but also burned at the ends, otherwise they fall apart into strings,” a female voice rang out.

We immediately agreed on this issue as well. We chose a coordinator who can help solve a purely technical problem by bringing together tape manufacturers, processors and distributors.

Approximately in this style, the meeting of practical revolutionaries lasted a little over an hour. But the key was the discussion of the scenario of the upcoming events on December 4th.

“There is nothing worse than a silently walking crowd,” declared the well-known director and producer Georgy Vasilyev, who is one of the founders of the League of Voters.

Ideas rained down in abundance. The main one is the procession, which, according to the plan, will last at least two hours (from the Oktyabrskaya metro station to Manezhnaya) must be accompanied by trucks. From them they will distribute food, and sing songs, and shout chants ...

“Just understand,” the director exclaimed. - "Re-re-elections!" sounds phonetically wonderful, everyone picks it up, but “Down with the party of crooks and thieves!” - it's impossible to pronounce or shout out.

But the main question in the scenario of the demonstration on December 4 is what to do with the participants during the two hours of the journey. Many decisions were born on Monday. Here are just two of them.

The first is to organize the counting of participants by the participants themselves (the know-how is still kept secret). Well, really, how much can you rely on police statistics, the data of which always, simply by definition, diverge from the impressions of the participants at times? The 21st century is already in the yard, in which there are quite objective, computer methods for counting the number of mass gatherings of people. They generally exclude the human factor. But if we add to them the participation of everyone (for example, by sending SMS messages that will be immediately displayed on a large TV screen), then the reliability will be even greater. According to some participants of the meeting, similar algorithms for computer systems have already been created and, possibly, will be used on February 4th.

The second is the dramaturgy of the manifestation itself. Still, from Oktyabrskaya to Manezhnaya, the path is not short, and along its entire length, the columns of participants must meet certain points where they can stop. Anti-fascists - with their own, left, right, nationalists, liberals, human rights activists - with their own. There they will be able to take a breath, put forward their slogans, listen to their leaders, catch their breath. So that, having finally gathered together, to come with a common goal to the end point - under the walls of the Kremlin.

Finally, the finale of this action is still open. Everyone understands that something must happen as a result, and certainly not an ordinary rally. An intermediate option is to launch thousands of white balloons up, symbolizing the cleansing of the country from Putin's power and corruption. But I want something more. The League of Voters is still thinking. Think you too.

Whether there will be a rally at the end of the February 4 demonstration remains to be seen. The mayor's office has to decide. Her verdict will be delivered no later than next Thursday. In the meantime, thousands of people are preparing for the upcoming event almost around the clock. Moreover, with knowledge of the matter and awareness of one's own rightness. Well, not for money, of course, on bare enthusiasm.

Participants of the secret meeting did not put forward any political slogans. They just live and act as they see fit. And those that were in office suits, and those that came in sweaters. Not to mention the ladies and girls ... The latter "starred" and shone. But they also worked. Looks like this is the future. Behind a society of normal people, preoccupied with something else, except for life and profit.