KavkazCenter :: Russia

For Russian opposition the words "de-Putinization" and "progress" are synonyms, The Time writes. For years, the opposition movement's strategy has been to rub away at Putin's credibility. In the past few weeks, though, signs of something new began to emerge, the journalist Simon Schuster writes.

"Regular Russians, not just the usual crew of activists, have been coming out by the thousands to call for Putin to resign", the magazine wrote. The pivotal point came on Jan. 30, when an opposition rally in the western city of Konigsberg attracted Nemtsov and other opposition leaders from Moscow.

In an interview with the magazine Nemtsov said that the opposition has a new strategy: "We have to monitor the overall environment very carefully. We have to spot where protests are flaring up, and we have to act on that".

The ultimate goal, Nemtsov says, is to organize a rally 10 times the size of Konigsberg's in the center of the capital. "After that, we'll have elections, and then we'll see who wins and who loses. But the point is, we have to get rid of Putin. He is dangerous," Nemtsov said in an interview to the magazine. "I think this year is going to be the year of anti-Putin protests", he added.

Demonstrations have cropped up around the country in the past few weeks and they were very large by Russian standards. "The rallies are larger, the reasons behind them more diverse and the calls for Putin's resignation more fervent", said in the article. "Konigsberg shed light on all the vices of the current regime and its economic policies, and it has led us to activate our regional branches.

We have been carrying out a series of protests and pickets around the country, and we will continue working in this direction", Yabloko Party leader, Sergei Mitrokhin, has noticed.

The hurdles are many. Putin loyalists control Russia's political institutions as well as the entire bureaucracy. The government controls all the major TV channels.

"Meanwhile, the opposition remains deeply divided. Egos sometimes override pragmatism, and a real alliance appears unthinkable", the author writes.

If the recent demonstrations topple the government, Novodvorskaya says, most likely the communists or some other authoritarian force will seize power.

Motives behind these protests are again material and they will "support anyone still capable of throwing them a bone", she says explaining that the government still has bones to throw.

Putin "knows he can rig the next elections or carry out such a massive PR campaign that the people will love him again", Mitrokhin says.

Department of Monitoring,

[1] photo from article