Russian oppon to protest Putin's 'leader-for-life' reforms
Russia's opposition on Saturday holds its first major protest since President Vladimir Putin in January announced plans which critics fear can help him stay in power after his mandate leads to 2024.
The rally marks five years because the assassination of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov but its organizers want the event to also send a message to Putin after he proposed major constitutional changes.
Organizers, like the country's most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny, needed a mass turnout. Many start to see the protest as a test of society's willingness to push back against Putin's apparent plans to increase his grip on power. "The Kremlin will look at just how many persons attend the Nemtsov March," said Navalny.In January, Putin unleashed a political storm, proposing an overhaul of the constitution, the first changes to the essential law since 1993.
Analysts start to see the plan as beginning preparations for succession when Putin's fourth presidential term leads to 2024, while the opposition says the Kremlin strongman really wants to remain leader for life.
Putin first came to power as prime minister in 1999 under Boris Yeltsin before becoming president in 2000. He served the utmost two consecutive conditions between 2000 and 2008 before a four-year stint as prime minister. He returned to the Kremlin in 2012.
The demonstration may also be the first major street action by the opposition since police violently broke up a number of anti-government protests last summer. Authorities however authorized a 30,000-strong rally after dozens of prominent figures, including writers and scientists, petitioned the city hall. Smaller rallies are expected in several cities including Saint Petersburg.
Russia is planning to hold a public vote on the constitutional amendments on April 22.A lot more than 48,000 persons have so far signed a petition against "a constitutional coup and usurpation of power".
In line with the Levada Center, an unbiased pollster, 25 % of Russians will back the constitutional proposals, while 56 percent said these were uncertain why the changes were needed.
Forty-four percent also said Putin should quit power in 2024, while 45 percent said he should stay. Viktoria Popova, an artist, said she would join Saturday's march but admitted she found the constitutional proposals confusing."Honestly, I don't understand what's happening and I am not able to figure it out," she told AFP.
Nemtsov among Putin's most vocal critics and a former deputy prime minister in the Yeltsin government was shot and killed near to the Kremlin on February 27, 2015.In 2017, a court found a former security force officer from Chechnya guilty of his murder and sentenced him to twenty years in prison. Four other men were found guilty of involvement in the killing.
But Nemtsov's family and allies insist the authorities have didn't bring the masterminds to justice.On Thursday, Putin decorated a senator who critics say has links to 1 of his assassination's alleged organisers, sparking dismay among members of the opposition.
EUROPE and america said Nemtsov's murder ought to be fully investigated."Boris Nemtsov remains an inspiration to all or any who shoot for justice, democracy, and a government accountable to the people," US embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Ross wrote on Twitter.
Protesters may also urge authorities to release Russia's political prisoners.Lots of folks were jailed after thousands rallied in Moscow last summer to demand fair elections, in the biggest upsurge of protests in the country for over half of a decade.
This month a Russian court also jailed seven persons for between six and 18 years on terror charges.Their supporters say the seven are victims of a security services conspiracy and were tortured to incriminate themselves in a throwback to Stalin-era practices.
