Russia’s opposition activists are planning to hold several protests till May 7 when Russian Prime Minister and president-elect Vladimir Putin will be inaugurated as president, leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov said on Friday, a day before the new anti-Putin rally.
“We will announce at the meeting that our campaign is still going on, it doesn’t end on March 10,” Udaltsov said. The opposition will continue to stage rallies till Putin’s inauguration, he added.
The opposition has been granted a permit to rally on downtown Novy Arbat Street on Saturday to protest the results of the March 4 presidential elections which, critics said, was marred by abuse of administrative powers and vote rigging.
“We want new fair elections to be carried out in Russia so that people could choose power for the country without censorship, violations and fraud,” Udaltsov said, adding that opposition may go on strike or set up tents in the city to make power “listen to the protesters.”
Udaltsov also said that the main slogan of the upcoming rally is “This is not an election. This is not the president.”
“We reiterate the illegitimacy of the elections, the illegitimacy of the elected president,” Udaltsov said.
Putin was Russia's president between 2000 and 2008, when he was forced to stand down by the Constitution. He became prime minister after the inauguration of his hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev. The two men are now expected to swap jobs.
