Boris Vishnevsky: “The United Russia ship is beginning to show noticeable leaks”

“The second consecutive previously agreed rally against “pension robbery” in St. Petersburg on Lenin Square near the Finlyandsky Station is in danger of being disrupted.
The official version is due to a pipe break in the square and the need for repair work,” writes a member of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg on his Facebook page.

“At first it was reported that the work would be completed by September 13 - this allowed the authorities to actually disrupt the rally of Navalny’s supporters, scheduled for September 9. This turned into mass arrests - more than 600 people were detained by the police.
Now it is stated that the work will be completed only by September 30 - meanwhile, a rally of the united opposition is scheduled for September 16, which includes almost everyone, from Yabloko, Parnassus and Open Russia, to the Socialist Revolutionaries, the Growth Party and LDPR. The communists are also ready to join.

The cunning of the authorities is obvious: the site of the accident is at one end of the square (on the corner with Komsomol Street), and the place where the rallies are planned is at the opposite end. Moreover, as follows from the diagram of the security zones of water supply and sewer networks, there are no such zones at all at the agreed location of the rally, and therefore this place cannot possibly fall within the boundaries of the relevant repair work. And on the Vodokanal website it is written that the work to eliminate the accident is carried out on the roadway and, therefore, does not in any way affect the agreed location for the rallies.

However, Smolny, not having the legal opportunity to cancel the previously issued approval, in both cases - both on September 9 and 16 - notifies the organizers of the “impossibility of holding a public event” for security reasons. They say that it is impossible to hold rallies where special equipment is working. The area is tightly fenced, although work is being carried out only in one corner.
The organizing committee of the united opposition was asked (as before to Navalny’s supporters) to move the rally to Udelny Park.

The organizing committee was categorical and demanded either that repair work be interrupted for the duration of the rally, or that an equivalent site be provided in the center of St. Petersburg.
In case of refusal, members of the organizing committee (including a whole group of deputies of the Legislative Assembly from opposition factions) stated that they were ready to go to the city center for an unauthorized rally. But don't go to the outskirts.
By the way, the communist rally planned for the same square on September 22 is also under threat.

It’s hard to say what explains the panic that suddenly gripped Smolny (at first everyone approved the rallies, and then they began to disrupt them). Most likely, an order came from Moscow - to hold and not let go. Prevent the public outrage of thousands of people by the cannibalistic “pension” plans of the president and government.
Pretend that everything is fine. Everyone is happy and supports these plans - especially after the relaxations granted by the president.

However, the second scandal in a row - when a rally is first approved, and then the approval is actually canceled - could backfire on Smolny. The organizers do not intend to retreat. The deputies included in the organizing committee intend to demand an urgent meeting with Governor Georgy Poltavchenko.

Of course, you can disperse everyone again and detain everyone. And plant for 10-15 days.
But if five of the six factions of the city parliament (all except the loyal United Russia members) end up in the special detention center for those arrested on Zakharyevskaya, this will be a scandal not of a city scale, but of a Russian scale.

Meanwhile, in a year there will be elections for the governor of St. Petersburg. And, judging by the just held elections in the regions, the ship of United Russia is beginning to show noticeable leaks, having stumbled upon the “pension rocks.”