Anti -crisis "spring" opposition

Alexey Navalny announced on March 1, the hundred thousandth "anti -crisis" march

Opposition politician Alexei Navalny called on the Russians to reach the "anti -crisis march". The reason for the action is that the Russian government, according to the opposition, does not cope with the political and economic situation in the country. Navalny and his supporters substantiate the need for changes in the political and socio-economic spheres, put forward a wide list of requirements and promise to apply to the city hall for participation in the march of one hundred thousand people.

Since the action has not yet been refused, Radio Freedom cannot predict how the Russian authorities will react to this appeal.

“It’s not that we did it that we have to properly,” writes Alexei Navalny , announcing the “anti -crisis” march called “Spring”. “The idea of the march is simple,” Navalny continues, “those who were sitting in the Kremlin could not cope and could not cope. They had 15 years and 3 trillion dollars received from the sale of our natural resources. Time was spent, the money was eaten.” Therefore, the politician proposes to formulate a “positive agenda” of changes and put forward requirements that share not only opposition organizations, but also most ordinary citizens.

Alexey Navalny provides a whole list of political and socio-economic requirements, which, according to him, are based on sociological studies of the Corruption Fund. Among the requirements are the admission of opposition candidates and parties to participation in the elections, the termination of aggressive actions in relation to Ukraine, the release of political prisoners, judicial reform, the reduction of military-police expenses, the abolition of product “counter-sanctions”, the abolition of the freezing of pension savings and others.

More details about why Navalny considers it important to reach the "anti -crisis march", in an interview with Radio Liberty was told by the ally of Alexei Navalny on the Fund for Corruption and the "Party of Progress" Nikolai Lyaskin :

Our main task is to show that there are much more reasonable people who want to live in a normal country than those who just want to get into a country

- In the country there are outrages that have brought it to a deep economic crisis, there is aggression against a neighboring country, political repressions are being created within Russia. I hope people should be aware that this cannot continue. This march calls for all reasonable forces to rally. This does not concern only political forces, we are talking about all ordinary rational citizens, who, in fact, are the majority. Our main task is to show people that people who want to live in a normal country are much more than those who just want to get into a country, receive their capital and withdraw them abroad. This march is very important in every sense - in social, in public, in political. I hope that a large number of people will take part in the preparation of the march. The preparation of the march is no less important than himself.

- It is already determined how the preparation will be carried out? Apparently, this is a rather difficult process.

- Yes, this is a big, wide story. There are some plans, but if someone has ideas for preparing this march, it is only welcome. If people do not show the initiative themselves now, we will tell our plan. But even when he is devoted to publicity, good ideas will be welcomed. People should feel that this is their event. It is very important to understand that this event is not someone specifically, but a common one. This will be the first step after which we all get a normal country together.

- How much did the demand for mass manifestations have a demand in society?

- I hope that people will respond very vividly. Personally, I can observe the demand for them when people in stores approach the shelves, look at the price tags, and their eyes are rounded. I see the demand for such mass manifestations when I talk with political activists, and they are indignant, which in this situation is happening with the elections, with the country's political system. When I am in the courts, ordinary, ordinary people, leaving the court, swear and say that everything is bought and it is impossible to prove their case with these judges. Demand is dut out everywhere, and now it is important that people realize that in order to change something, actions are necessary. And the first action that we offer is preparation for the march and participation in the march, ”said Nikolai Lyaskin.

The authorities will also not sit back and make some efforts so that these protests do not have a massive character

At the moment, the organizers of the march are the "Party of Progress", the Republican Party of Russia is the Party of People's Freedom (RPR-Parnas), the "December 5" party and the Movement "Solidarity". The idea of the "anti -Crisis march" was supported by politicians Boris Nemtsov , Mikhail Kasyanov , Vladimir Milov and others. So far, it is only about the Moscow action, but, as Alexey Navalny promises, “the issue of organizing similar events in other cities of Russia” Buden has been resolved in the near future. The St. Petersburg branch of the RPR-Parnas party has already stated that he was joining the "anti-crisis march" and begins to prepare for this day of a large procession.

Associate Professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology of the European University in St. Petersburg , Vladimir Gelman, discusses how much a request for protest events in society is now great and how the figure of Alexei Navalny will affect the desire of people to go out:

- The request for changes in Russian society has existed for a long time. The surge of political protests that we observed in 2011-12 is the tip of the iceberg. And it is clear that against the background of the beginning economic crisis, mass layouts that are already declared, these sentiments can only intensify. Whether Navalny will be able to mobilize these public moods and hold a really large -scale, serious protest - will show the future. If you just sit passively and wait, the protests themselves will not happen. Someone must organize them, and Navalny as a politician, understands this perfectly. Another thing is that the authorities will also not sit back and probably make some efforts so that these protests do not have a massive nature, will intimidate people, arrange provocations, and so on.

- From your point of view, a fairly wide range of requirements that the opposition formulate will find support from people?

- Certainly! A wider agenda is able to rally a variety of citizens. One will be important political requirements, the other - the requirements of the social, economic agenda and so on. Much will depend not so much on the set of slogans as on how these slogans can be brought to citizens - in terms of understanding that these requirements themselves will not fulfill, unless citizens are forced to do this. It is one thing when you abstractly want us to have less corruption in our country and that war is stopped, and it’s quite another thing when you come to life, go to protest promotions and openly demonstrate your dissatisfaction to the authorities, and not just sit on the sofa or in front of the computer screen. This is the most difficult task.

- Do you think the figure of Alexei Navalny itself as a conditional organizer of such a campaign will play a role?

A wider agenda is able to rally a variety of citizens

- I think yes. Because Navalny is quite known in the country, the experience of his political activity showed that he has potential in order to lead fellow citizens. In the end, over 600 thousand people voted for Navalny in the Moscow Mayor , and this is more than serious. There is no one comparable to him in fame, popularity in the opposition camp. He gained sufficient experience in political activity. Another thing is that one in the field is not a warrior, and even a talented politician Navalny, in order to succeed, will have to rely on a rather wide coalition of his associates - not only the current, from the Fund for the fight against corruption, but also on much wider circles of citizens, ”said political scientist Vladimir Helman.

The organizers do not yet disclose the details of the future Moscow campaign, but they promise that everything will be by law. "The application for a procession of 100 thousand people in one of the central streets will be sent in the prescribed manner at the established time," writes Alexei Navalny. The Moscow City Hall has not yet commented on the plans of the opposition. “I can comment only on really submitted applications,” the head of the Moscow Regional Department of the Moscow City Hall, Alexei Mayorov , told Interfax agency. According to the law, Mayorov added, the application is submitted no earlier than 15 days before the promotion. The previous mass opposition action took place in Moscow on September 21, 2014. An event called "Marsh of the World", in which both supporters and opponents of the conflict in Ukraine participated, collected, according to various estimates, from 5 to 70 thousand people.