Dmitry Gudkov: “They don’t even try to cover up the fear of the people with a fig leaf of excuses”

“This was to be expected: first Moscow equates meetings with deputies with rallies, then St. Petersburg, and now a bill on the same thing appears in the State Duma at the federal level,” the politician writes on his Facebook page.

“That is, it is not enough for United Russia to sweep the powers in two cities with a sickle, it needs to be done throughout the country, otherwise what if one of the regional deputies wants to organize a “Maidan”?

If you read the document, you can see that they are not even trying to cover up the fear of the people with a fig leaf of excuses. "...conducting meetings of deputies with voters in other forms provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation on meetings, rallies, demonstrations, processions and pickets requires additional legal regulation, including for the purpose of maintaining public order, ensuring the safety of participants in public events and other citizens , uninterrupted functioning of public transport, and other organizations that ensure the normal life of any settlement in the Russian Federation."

Uninterrupted functioning of public transport: remember how, in ancient vegetarian times, rallies on Triumfalnaya were banned for the sake of summer residents who might get stuck in traffic jams?

But I repeat again: you can nail up the last hole through which discontent comes out. The faster it will explode. So pass the law, pass it, it is a very correct and timely initiative.”