MOSCOW (AP) —Russian authorities have allowed the opposition to hold a massive protest against election fraud, following a violent police crackdown on a series of demonstrations earlier this week, the rally organizers said Friday.
The decision to sanction a rally of up to 30,000 on Saturday on a square across the river from the Kremlin appears to be an attempt to avoid the violence that occurred at the previous, unsanctioned protests that occurred after last Sunday’s parliamentary election.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party won about 50 percent of the vote, barely holding onto its majority in the lower house. But Russia’s opposition parties and observers said that even that result was highly inflated because of vote-rigging, and international monitors also pointed to ballot stuffing.
The post-election protests in Moscow drew thousands and continued for several days, reflecting a growing public frustration with Putin’s rule that may complicate his bid to reclaim the presidency in next March’s vote. The rallies were brutally dispersed by police, who rounded up hundreds.
The protesters have used the Internet to coordinate their action. Over 30,000 people already have signed up to a Facebook page on Saturday’s protest, and similar rallies are also planned in many cities across Russia to demand the investigation of vote fraud and call for a new vote.
Putin served two presidential terms from 2000 until 2008, when he shifted into the prime minister’s job to abide by constitutional term limits, but remained the nation’s No. 1 leader. Putin’s decision to swap seats now with his protege, President Dmitry Medvedev, has angered many Russians, who fear it will further strengthen authoritarian trends in his policy and lead to political and economic stagnation.
Putin still seems all but certain to win the March election, but he clearly has been taken aback by the tide of public anger. On Thursday, he accused U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of instigating protesters in order to weaken Russia and warned that his government might take an even harder line against those who try to influence Russia’s political process on behalf of a foreign government.
Alexander Gorbenko, a deputy mayor of Moscow who allowed the protest, sternly warned its participants Friday that an attempt to hold a march will be stopped by police. Some of the protest organizers insisted Friday that they will rally in a different location nearer the Kremlin, raising the prospect of new violence.
Authorities have put nearly 50,000 police and about 2,000 paramilitary forces on the streets, backed by water cannons.
