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“Rally of Wrath” demands action from the government
Published: 20 March, 2010, 19:37
Edited: 01 June, 2010, 18:44
TAGS: Conflict, Crime, Meeting, Scandal, Russia, Protest, Politics, Human rights, Law
Thousands of Russians have taken to the streets to participate in so-called “Day of Wrath” opposition rallies all over the country.
Those who oppose the current social and economic policies of the government are demanding protection of their constitutional rights. RT has been reporting from one of the rallies in Moscow.
Protesters, who are wearing stickers that say “We are against the authority’s actions,” have spoken out against the lawlessness in Russia’s road police and a car tax increase.
See photos from the rally on RT's Gallery.
The Federation of Car Owners of Russia, which kicked off the protest, has in fact put forward a whole package of demands before the government.
The package includes the demand to fix endemic corruption in Russia’s road police and to review the law on annual car tax. In Russia, the bigger the engine, the more a motorist has to pay and protesters say it is unfair.
“I wanted to buy a better car, a Ford Focus with a better engine, but now I cannot afford it,” one of the protestors said.
The good news is that the law on car tax could be revised. The proposal on including the car tax into the price of patrol is now being considered by the Russian government.
Another demand of the protesters is to improve the situation with the road police in the country. People freely talk about how little they trust the police and how easy it is to bribe them.
“We want the police to look not at the person’s wallet first and then decide whom to blame in a car accident, because that is what so often happens,” said one of the protesters.
Rally participators say that if their voice is not heard they might start a vote of no confidence in the government.
19.03.2010, 18:37
Russia welcomes public debate on police reformMembers of the Russian Public Chamber and Human Rights Council have proposed splitting up the police force into independent federal and municipal entities. |
21.03.2010, 10:23
1 comment
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sevodnya_net It is true that Russia needs less billionaires and more ordinary people who can purchase affordable goods but fight for foreign made cars is the way to go? These protestors are not fighting for legitimate needs of the majority of Russians. Democracy and constitutional rights are more than access to foreign made cars. What is wrong with Russian made cars anyway?
These protests aren't just about "car tax" - especially in Kaliningrad, where local people are increasingly frustrated by the poverty of their lives, especially surrounded as they are by the comparatively more advanced societies in much-maligned Poland and Lithuania. The danger for the regime in the Kremlin, as many of us predicted some while ago, is that if you deny a legitimate voice to proper opposition parties, as opposed to the phoney "opposition" parties currently tolerated, then you deny a constitutional avenue for people to express themselves.
If you cannot afford to buy car, then you walk, you only can only blame yourself for being poor. If you're poor then it's your problem the government are not responsible for your live or your stomach.