MOSCOW, September 15 (Itar-Tass) — The opposition actions under the common name March of Millions were held in several Russian cities. According to various estimates, from 14,000 to 100,000 people were participating in the protest action. The opposition has put forward the demand to release political prisoners and announce an election re-run in the State Duma. The experts find the Saturday protest action abortive.
The Novye Izvestia daily reported that representatives of various political forces delivered speeches at the rally. Along with the previous demands of the election re-run in the State Duma and the release of political prisoners new socio-economic demands were made.
The Kommersant daily reported that the participants in the rally did not react loudly to the speeches from the stage. Former State Duma deputy Gennady Gudkov, who was stripped of deputy mandate on Friday, got sympathizing cheers.
Head of the Institute of National Strategy Mikhail Remizov told the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily that the current opposition marches slightly differ from the Strategy-31 actions, “The organizers of the Marches of Millions have the same conservative approach, they are not oriented at the result, but at some ritual of regular protest actions. They represent a closed subculture, which does not expand its framework.” The expert shared the opinion that the creative class does not have any motive to go out in the streets any more. Meanwhile, the newspaper reported that the organizers seem to believe less in massive actions. Last week Boris Nemtsov said in St. Petersburg, “I am already 53 years old, I am already not a boy. Frankly speaking, I am sick and tired to run from the OMON riot police in the streets. It is high time to go to the parliament and work there, as it is common practice in civilized countries.”
The Moskovsky Komsomolets daily reported that the leftists were in majority at the march, primarily for social reasons rather than ideological reasons. A substantive part of the leftist forces have made teachers and other budget-financed workers with the slogans for higher salaries.
The Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily believes that “the main feature of the Saturday protest action became a doubtless fact, which was already fixed by many experts and political experts. The energy of the first wave of protests, which gave a strong start to the protesting movement last December, almost faded away. Until something extraordinary happens like the previous State Duma elections, the number of demonstrators at the march will hardly be large.”