December 15th will be May 6th. Yulia LATYNINA: The opposition itself stuck its head in the noose

The opposition itself put its head into the noose. The opposition has long had a marginal component, a solid core of several hundred activists and a couple of thousand participants (whether left or right), attending any rallies. When the protests became massive, this marginal component blew up: “Wow! How many people have come to us now!” - and rushed to litter the Internet and the organizing committees.

But after all, the Coordinating Council was then elected in order to cut off all these marginals who received their legitimate two thousand votes in the elections to it! And cut off. And then they went on about them, they were afraid of shouting: “You are leaking a protest!”; “Parkhomenko (variant: Sobchak, Navalny - underline as necessary) is an agent of the Kremlin!”

Well, the question is, to whom and why it was necessary to appoint a rally for December 15? What is the rally about? Last December, people were driven to the streets for a very specific reason: rigged elections. This reason, as well as the deepest dissatisfaction with the authorities, have not gone away, but there is no reason. The creative class is not the kind of audience that will go to May Day (or fifteen December) demonstrations once a year, because the leaders want it that way.

It is absolutely clear that there will be fewer people, much fewer, and there would be nothing terrible in this if the authorities, who had been carefully preparing for this moment for a year, passing laws banning unauthorized rallies, starting a case on May 6, did not set a trap for the opposition, in which she went to heart-rending cries: “We won’t let the protest be leaked!”

You won’t give a drain, but you will give a transplant, right? So that, in addition to the “bolotnaya case”, the “Lubyansk case” would also be started, so that as a result of carefully planned provocations (do you doubt that there will be trained provocateurs in the crowd who will break through and throw stones at the riot police?) Three dozen more people ended up in jail? And most importantly, it turned out to be pointless, because no matter what it was supposed to irrigate the tree of freedom - with the blood of martyrs or the blood of tyrants - it is obviously pointless to irrigate it with this very blood in December frosts without sufficient reason; it's like planting greenery in Yukos wells in February.

Everything that happens is the result of one simple thing. Most of the Coordinating Council is made up of people who don't know what to do. The exception, in my personal opinion, is Alexei Navalny. You can have different attitudes to his projects, but Navalny, it seems to me, is trying, and often successfully, to solve the main problem - how to engage in meaningful opposition activity (not opposition journalism and opposition Facebook) in a country where the opposition, by definition, has no influence on power and where it is pointless to create political parties.

Most of the rest are, at best, publicists, and at worst, professional revolutionaries like Udaltsov, for whom the worse, the better. Udaltsov does not know other ways of meaningful activity, except to be a martyr of the revolution.

In fact, it turned out that Navalny and the moderate members of the council went along with these people, because "the anniversary must be celebrated" and "the protest cannot be leaked."

For me, the smartest thing that the Coordinating Council can do now is to refuse to fall into the trap prepared for him by the Kremlin and urge him not to go to the Lubyanka on December 15th. It is foolish to lose a battle when it can be avoided. This is not Thermopylae and not “guys, isn’t Moscow behind us?”. It is foolish, seeing that the enemy has an advantage in position, armament and manpower, to climb on the rampage with the words: "we are, they say, ashamed to retreat."

Yes, and did you notice that in his 9,600-word speech from the throne on Wednesday, Vladimir Putin never once used the words “protest” and “civil society”? Three days before December 15, Putin was no longer worried. A year ago, he was worried, talking about "condoms" and adding fuel to the fire. And now he is talking about the fact that Russia is a state-civilization and that “spiritual bonds” have disappeared in society. With a protest, everything has already been decided for him. So, there is no need to fall into the trap prepared by the Kremlin.

P. _ S. _ From the editor. The tastes of the editors may not coincide with the tastes of our browser.

Participants' comments

Alexey MAYOROV , head of the Department of Regional Security of the city of Moscow:

“We were unable to agree on the holding of the event in the prescribed manner. If the applicants need to correct their position today, I think there will still be such an opportunity. Tomorrow is unlikely to succeed, because we simply will not have time to carry out a set of measures to prepare the event: to consider the route with law enforcement agencies, to warn Muscovites about the change in transport operation. But now we have sent an official notice that the march along the declared routes cannot be carried out.

We made our position clear right away: central squares are the key components of traffic. We close them only for traditional annual events - May 1, May 9. As a rule, other venues are recommended for rallies and processions.

We informed the Prosecutor's Office of our decision: it must notify citizens that the organization and holding of this event, as well as campaigning, is unacceptable. Calls for an event can be direct or indirect - this will be considered by the relevant authorities. The center of Moscow, especially on New Year's Eve, is traditionally filled with citizens and, as you know, there are no conflicts. However, if people hold an unauthorized event under the guise of laying flowers, the law enforcement response will be appropriate.

Sergei UDALTSOV , leader of the Left Front:

- We are not satisfied with the options proposed by the mayor's office. Now it will be a spontaneous process: people actively agree to come to Lubyanka Square. I think the authorities want to provoke a conflict - they disrupted a peaceful rally. But we will not call anyone to anything. People have the right, probably, to come to the square - this is not a crime. I myself will come to the Lubyanka: all these prohibitions are outrageous. We spent the whole year holding peaceful marches, and now it took to drive the situation to a standstill.

The mayor's office offered us three options: from Pushkinskaya to Sakharov Avenue, from Trubnaya to Kropotkinskaya, from Kaluzhskaya to Bolotnaya. These options do not suit us. Twelve thousand verified users voted for the Coordinating Council to insist on the central squares.

The authorities decided to provoke spontaneous demonstrations. We will not organize anything. People will go where they see fit. Now it is the responsibility of the authorities.

Gennady GUDKOV , ex-deputy of the State Duma:

“There will be no march, there will be nothing. For example, I'll just go on Saturday to lay flowers at the monument. I do not invite anyone with me: I think that I have no right to call.

Vladimir TOR , nationalist representative in the Coordinating Council:

“I personally, strictly along the sidewalk, peacefully and without weapons, want to approach the Solovetsky stone and lay flowers so that the repressions against my people stop. I don't invite anyone with me. I believe that in this situation everyone should be guided by common sense and their own conscience.

Dmitry GUDKOV , deputy-SR:

- I will buy flowers and go for a walk in the direction of Lubyanka Square to lay them on the Solovetsky stone. My great-grandfather was shot in 1938 - I have every right to. This is not an action, there will be no slogans and chanting. And walking and laying flowers in our Constitution is not prohibited. If the police start illegally detaining people, sooner or later they will end up on Magnitsky's list. For our part, we will urge people not to clash with the police.

Alexei NAVALNY , politician, blogger, member of the Opposition Coordinating Council:

— The Moscow Mayor’s Office and the Kremlin believe they have banned the Freedom March. Well, okay. They can't stop walking. Streets, sidewalks and feet are not yet banned. Everyone goes by himself. I left the house and at 15 o'clock ended up on Lubyanka Square.

On the eve of the unsanctioned rally on December 15 at the Lubyanka, Novaya also spoke with its source in law enforcement agencies . Below is his position:

“Opposition leaders need an unsanctioned rally. In any case, Sergei Udaltsov faces imprisonment under articles 212 (“mass riots”) and 318 (“use of violence against a representative of the authorities”) of the Criminal Code for actions on May 6. In this situation, it is most important for him to maintain his reputation as a fighter against the regime and become a political prisoner, not a criminal. If Udaltsov is captured and planted on December 15 - for having come with flowers to the Solovetsky stone - the sympathy and support of the citizens, largely lost, will again be on his side.

Alexei Navalny also understands that there will be arrests on the 15th. However, he, unlike Udaltsov, runs the risk of getting several days under the administrative article. The authorities intercept the initiatives of the opposition to fight corruption, in housing and communal services, and it is important for Navalny to maintain his reputation.

At the same time, opposition leaders cannot but understand that on the 15th they are putting citizens under attack. A year has passed since the beginning of the protest wave: now it would be quite possible to organize a rally on the principle of rallies of many thousands on Bolotnaya Square and Sakharov Avenue, to sum up the results and determine the prospects. Instead, people are offered to choose one of two options: stay at home, or go to Lubyanka Square, knowing in advance that there will be mass detentions.