MOSCOW. May 11 (Interfax) - Former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, currently the chairman of the Committee of Civil Initiatives, believes street protests help persuade the government of the need for political changes, but these protests must be peaceful and its organizers and participants should not fall for provocations by radical activists.
"The events of the recent days are seriously alarming. Leaving a significant part of society without parliamentary representation, the authorities pushed these people with their own hands to the street, to an environment where
they can express their protest publicly. In these conditions, mass street protests have huge constructive potential," the Committee of Civil Initiatives said in a statement posted on Kudrin's official website on Friday.
Protests help persuade the government and society of the need for further political changes making sure that the political system is open and the people's interests are represented efficiently, the statement says.
"The restriction of this right, in addition to others, inevitably prompts socially active citizens to radicalize their protest sentiments. Instead of making whatever rational demands, they are motivated to join rallies by an understandable emotional desire to preserve dignity and not to hide from batons," the document says.
This "forms conditions that are extremely unfavorable for any substantive dialogue between society and the government and that are, on the contrary, ideal for radicals on both sides to put into practice their designs," the statement says.
As for the rally on May 6, the Committee insisted that the radicals invested with power actually thwarted a sanctioned rally by driving the marchers into a bottleneck leading to Bolotnaya Square, while radicals among the protesters used force against policemen.
"It is important to determine who was provoking and who fell for provocation in confrontation between civilians and security forces, and all instances of the use of force must be investigated. However, it is the law enforcement bodies that are responsible for the people's security in a law-abiding state," the authors said.
"It is necessary to immediately return rally activities onto a normal track, and the record of the previous demonstrations on Bolotnaya Square and on Sakharov Avenue shows that this is possible. The current situation makes especially responsible those people in the government and in the opposition who understand the need for changes and want them to be peaceful," the statement says.
In addition to Kudrin, the document has been signed by members of the Committee of Civil Initiatives Dmitry Oreshkin, Leonid Gozman, Yevgeny Gontmakher, Vladimir Posner, Nikolai Svanidze, Mark Urnov, Yevgeny Yasin, Irina Yasina, Yuly Gusman and others.
Keywords: Russia, Protests, Politics - Russian News - Russia
MOSCOW. May 11 (Interfax) - Former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, currently the chairman of the Committee of Civil Initiatives, believes street protests help persuade the government of the need for political changes, but these protests must be peaceful and its organizers and participants should not fall for provocations by radical activists.
"The events of the recent days are seriously alarming. Leaving a significant part of society without parliamentary representation, the authorities pushed these people with their own hands to the street, to an environment where
they can express their protest publicly. In these conditions, mass street protests have huge constructive potential," the Committee of Civil Initiatives said in a statement posted on Kudrin's official website on Friday.
Protests help persuade the government and society of the need for further political changes making sure that the political system is open and the people's interests are represented efficiently, the statement says.
"The restriction of this right, in addition to others, inevitably prompts socially active citizens to radicalize their protest sentiments. Instead of making whatever rational demands, they are motivated to join rallies by an understandable emotional desire to preserve dignity and not to hide from batons," the document says.
This "forms conditions that are extremely unfavorable for any substantive dialogue between society and the government and that are, on the contrary, ideal for radicals on both sides to put into practice their designs," the statement says.
As for the rally on May 6, the Committee insisted that the radicals invested with power actually thwarted a sanctioned rally by driving the marchers into a bottleneck leading to Bolotnaya Square, while radicals among the protesters used force against policemen.
"It is important to determine who was provoking and who fell for provocation in confrontation between civilians and security forces, and all instances of the use of force must be investigated. However, it is the law enforcement bodies that are responsible for the people's security in a law-abiding state," the authors said.
"It is necessary to immediately return rally activities onto a normal track, and the record of the previous demonstrations on Bolotnaya Square and on Sakharov Avenue shows that this is possible. The current situation makes especially responsible those people in the government and in the opposition who understand the need for changes and want them to be peaceful," the statement says.
In addition to Kudrin, the document has been signed by members of the Committee of Civil Initiatives Dmitry Oreshkin, Leonid Gozman, Yevgeny Gontmakher, Vladimir Posner, Nikolai Svanidze, Mark Urnov, Yevgeny Yasin, Irina Yasina, Yuly Gusman and others.