MOSCOW, July 23. /TASS/. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that rallies in the Khabarovsk region are an emotional reaction to removal of Sergey Furgal from office, adding that the situation could be also be used by the quasi-opposition.
Answering journalists’ questions about the anti-Moscow rallies in Khabarovsk, the spokesperson said that he "would rather not generalize the situation and bring it to a common denominator."
He could not name the nature behind these slogans.
"They write slogans, they speak slogans, there are certain people… It is a fashionable trend for the quasi-opposition, who is keen to make a little noise, to try to make a little noise, to earn some points over this situation," Peskov noted.
"Overall, this [rallies] is an emotional reaction; we are talking about the former governor, who enjoyed popularity in his region, but, however, a special emergency happened, after he was charged with involvement in a serious crime," the spokesman said, adding that "of course, there are reasons for an acute emotional reaction," which explains the rallies.
"I would rather not ties the [rallies and their slogans] to the centralization of power: the regions enjoy a whole set of powers, which were further extended amid the coronavirus crisis, so I’d rather not speak about any kind of centralization [of power]," Peskov noted.
Unauthorized protests over Furgal’s arrest take place in Khabarovsk since July 11, despite the assembly ban due to the coronavirus epidemic. The largest protests took place on July 11 and 18. These protests were attended by up to 12,000 people.
On July 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin fired Furgal due to the loss of confidence. Chairman of the Duma Committee on Physical Education, Sports, Tourism and the Youth Mikhail Degtyaryov has been appointed as an interim governor. He is a member of the Liberal-Democratic Party, which Furgal also is a member of, and is a member of the party’s supreme council.