A congress of the non-registered oppositional Party of People’s Freedom (PARNAS) was marked by the adoption of two resolutions. The opposition recognized the elections as illegitimate and called on citizens to spoil ballot papers and place them in the Internet. They also demanded the authorities should lift the threshold for the opposition parties.
The PARNAS congress took place without its co-chair Vladimir Milov, who withdrew his candidacy from voting and left the event just before noon, Nezavisimiaya Gazeta wrote. However, there was no hope for his re-election, a source participating in the congress said. “Milov had serious disagreements with his colleagues in the party’s leadership concerning an election strategy and nomination of a presidential candidate.”
PARNAS co-chair Boris Nemtsov announced that he did not believe that the country would have any election. “This will be an impudent, deceitful farce! The scale of forgery will be unlimited. We should not misguide people – there is no talk about the election at all.” Many regional representatives of the party proposed to vote for any other party, except for United Russia, persuading that in the regions this really helps to fight the monopoly of United Russia. As a result, the party decided to take part in the voting, spoiling the ballot papers.
The party’s congress adopted a resolution denouncing United Russia’s statement on nomination of Putin as a presidential candidate. “From our point of view, this is further usurpation of power and complete transition to the irremovability of the country’s authorities, when two heads in the tandem change each other,” PARNAS co-chair Vladimir Ryzhkov said.