- Tweeter
republish
Unlike the last Saturdays marked by hundreds of arrests, Moscow had a very calm day. Liberal protest pickets, like the Communist Party's organized rally calling for fair and honest elections, did not move crowds.
With our correspondent in Moscow, Jean-Didier Revoin
A multitude of red flags flanked by sickle and hammer floated above the 4 to 5,000 participants at the Communist Party meeting on Sakharov Avenue. A sparse avenue a week after 50,000 Muscovites answered the call of the Liberals.
" The electorate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation naturally decreases - they die because of their age. And the younger generation does not support the communists, "explains Pavel, a young man in his twenties.
If the Kremlin wanted to lower the ranks of the liberal opposition by using the Communists, it was a failure, despite the enthusiasm of the party's activists. " I am against the government's policy against fraudulent elections, because it is unbearable to just wait and watch this mess, these abominable acts. Every decent and honest man must act in this way, "says a young activist named Tatiana.
The liberal opposition has also been rather discreet. The Moscow City Hall had banned all rallying, which is why, in accordance with Russian law, some protesters took a sign, taking care to observe between them, a distance of 50 meters, under the watchful eye of the police. But the mobilization of recent weeks was not at the rendezvous, opponents probably waiting for other upcoming events by the elections in September.