MOSCOW (AP) — Authorities in Moscow on March 7 gave permission for another major protest rally this weekend, but one of the organizers warned that the turnout may be smaller than the huge throngs that came to previous demonstrations.
A wave of rallies in Moscow attracted crowds as big as 100,000, a stunning show of public opposition to Vladimir Putin. But after Putin’s election on March 4 to a new six-year term as president, the opposition’s ability to maintain that momentum is in doubt.
Putin won nearly 64 percent of the vote but independent observers described widespread violations.
A protest the day after the election drew some 20,000 people. The latest protest has been authorized for March 10 on Novy Arbat, one of Moscow’s major avenues.
But Boris Akunin, one of the rallies’ organizers and a well-known novelists, said on March 7 that the "romantic phase of the protests is over" and he "would not be surprised" if the March 10 event attracted a smaller crowd, primarily made up of disgruntled observers who witnessed vote-rigging.
"People have realized that you cannot oppose robots from the riot police with white ribbons, white balloons and funny flash mobs," Akunin told reporters.
Several hundred people stayed on after the rally on March 5 but were swiftly dispersed and detained by riot policemen.
"People are feeling a kind of stupor," Akunin said. "This is natural. People need some time to think things over."
The novelist suggested that emerging civil society should instead focus on grass-roots activism and run for seats in local council and parliaments.
Akunin is a member of the League of Voters, a loose civil organization that trained volunteers to monitor the presidential election. The group issued a statement on March 7, saying it does not recognize the outcome of the vote, which it described as unfair and dishonest.
The group’s founder, journalist Sergei Parkhomenko, said their organization have identified suspicious voting patterns that testify to their allegations of violations.
Parkhomenko spoke of the "risk groups" of voters that arouse suspicions — such as voting with absentee ballots, early voting, voting at home and at ad-hoc polling stations set up at factories and big state-controlled enterprises. The journalist said that "the disproportional part of those votes went to Putin."
