All news

Left front leader undecided whether to quit political reform group

Udaltsov said that on March 17 he would take part in a demonstration by the Opposition in Moscow’s Pushkinskaya Square

MOSCOW, March 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov has not made a decision yet whether to quit the working group under the deputy chief of the presidential staff, Vyacheslav Volodin, created for finalizing the political reform.

“I know that representatives of the unregistered People’s Freedom Party (PARNAS) have quit that group. I must analyze the situation,” Udaltsov said.

Earlier, PARNAS co-chairman Boris Nemtsov named two reasons for the decision to quit the working group – Udaltsov’s administrative arrest for ten days and the court’s decision to sentence Alexei Kozlov, husband of one of the protest rallies’ organizers Olga Romanova, to five years in prison.

Udaltsov said that on March 17 he would take part in a demonstration by the Opposition in Moscow’s Pushkinskaya Square. The Opposition said the demonstration would be in protest against his arrest and the sentence passed on Kozlov. The gathering will be arranged as a meeting with State Duma members, which does not require coordination with the Mayor’s Office.

“I owe my release to the activity of citizens, parties and politicians. Of ordinary citizens first and foremost. There has never been anything like that before,” Udaltsov said.

The Moscow City Court on Friday replaced Udaltsov’s original punishment for disobedience to police after the March 10 rally – a ten-day administrative arrest – with a 1,000 ruble fine.