A rally against election fraud will be held at Millennium Square

The leaders of Kazan residents who disagreed with the elections managed to reach a compromise. Instead of two previously announced protest rallies, it was decided to hold one - on Millennium Square. Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov is confident that this time the opposition will be able to enter into a dialogue with the authorities.

Yesterday it became known about a single location for the rally against election fraud - it will take place on December 24 at 15:00 on Millennium Square near the Central Stadium. The day before, a decision on this was made at a joint coordination meeting by two initiative groups, which had previously agreed with the authorities on a protest action at different sites.

Let us remind you that the first rally of those who disagreed with the election results took place on December 10 on Freedom Square. Then the authorities declared the action “illegal” and at the end of the event, which was attended by about a thousand people, more than 100 participants were taken to police stations. To avoid new arrests, several initiative groups submitted notices to hold a coordinated protest action on December 24 on Freedom Square. However, they all received a refusal from the mayor’s office - on that day, United Russia reserved Freedom Square for a picket in support of its presidential candidate. As a result, the executive committee approved the Millennium Square for public activists Igor Veselov, Airat Zyamilov and Arthur Gibadullin, and the representatives of the Kazan Civil Union Ilya Karev, Alexey Toporov and Nikolai Konovalov - Sultan Galiev Square in front of the Kazan National Cultural Center (NKC). Until the last moment, the organizers intended to hold two rallies.

As Alexey Toporov said, Millennium Square was chosen based on the results of an online survey: two-thirds of the expected rally participants voted for it. “Each site had its pros and cons. But we decided to entrust the choice to the people,” explained Mr. Toporov. He noted that during the negotiations, his supporters were forced to agree with opponents that Millennium Square was “more crowded.” “We managed to clarify the controversial issues. We came to the conclusion that it is necessary to unite, since we have one common cause, one common goal,” Mr. Toporov emphasized. He added that yesterday he and his supporters submitted a notice to the mayor's office to refuse to hold the event near the NCC. Those who come there on Saturday will be met by activists and informed about the postponement of the meeting, Mr. Toporov assured.

According to Igor Veselov, unifying the rally “was necessary,” otherwise “the protest movement would have been fragmented,” and “as a result, people would not have come either here or here.” “Even the police were surprised: why are there two rallies,” said Mr. Veselov. He noted that at the meeting of activists, the responsibilities of the organizers were “distributed” between the two groups, and voluntary contributions for the needs of the rally are currently being collected on the Internet: rental of equipment, production of badges, posters and leaflets. “We asked the mayor’s office to assist in holding the rally and allow us to connect to the stadium’s power grid. But so far there has been no response,” said Mr. Veselov. He expressed confidence that the protest rally “will definitely take place” and “legally.”

Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, at a meeting with journalists on Wednesday, assured that people who will go to the rally on December 24 “can count on a dialogue with the authorities.” “Since we have decided that we are an open, democratic country, then there can be rallies,” said Mr. Minnikhanov. At the same time, the president emphasized that he is not against the rallies themselves, but “against unauthorized rallies.” Mr. Minnikhanov also responded to criticism of United Russia. “To say that we used administrative resources is not true,” the president said.

Kirill Antonov

The opposition took a united position