MOSCOW. June 16 (Interfax) - Prominent Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov has warned delegates of a united congress of the Republican Party of Russia (RPR) and the People's Freedom Party (PARNAS) that the authorities will step up political reprisals in the country.

"The flywheel of reprisals will be spinning up and will strike some of those present here," Nemtsov said at the congress on Saturday.

"The ruling regime has made the definitive choice not in favor of the people but in favor of those who are ready to enforce repressive measures. And therefore it is extremely important now to explain our program and take practical steps to expose the ruling regime," Nemtsov said.

To this end, 18 videos have been shot based on the report 'Putin. Corruption', he said.

"We need to coerce the authorities to accept peace, but how can we do this? It is not enough to get 100,000 protesters to take to the streets. We should get one million people to take to the streets, but to this end, political demands are not enough, and it is necessary to add socioeconomic demands to them," Nemtsov said.

Among such demands are the introduction of a minimum hourly wage, the returning of real rights and powers to regional and municipal governing bodies from the central ones, the exemption of small and medium businesses from taxes, transition to a professional contract army, and others, he said.

"We are facing quite hard times, as Putin is losing support among the law enforcement and security bodies, and this means that, with protests increasing, reprisals will be increasing, too. But we will win, even though I do not know exactly when," Nemtsov said.

Keywords: Russia, Government, Politics, Repression - Russian News - Russia

MOSCOW. June 16 (Interfax) - Prominent Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov has warned delegates of a united congress of the Republican Party of Russia (RPR) and the People's Freedom Party (PARNAS) that the authorities will step up political reprisals in the country.

"The flywheel of reprisals will be spinning up and will strike some of those present here," Nemtsov said at the congress on Saturday.

"The ruling regime has made the definitive choice not in favor of the people but in favor of those who are ready to enforce repressive measures. And therefore it is extremely important now to explain our program and take practical steps to expose the ruling regime," Nemtsov said.

To this end, 18 videos have been shot based on the report 'Putin. Corruption', he said.

"We need to coerce the authorities to accept peace, but how can we do this? It is not enough to get 100,000 protesters to take to the streets. We should get one million people to take to the streets, but to this end, political demands are not enough, and it is necessary to add socioeconomic demands to them," Nemtsov said.

Among such demands are the introduction of a minimum hourly wage, the returning of real rights and powers to regional and municipal governing bodies from the central ones, the exemption of small and medium businesses from taxes, transition to a professional contract army, and others, he said.

"We are facing quite hard times, as Putin is losing support among the law enforcement and security bodies, and this means that, with protests increasing, reprisals will be increasing, too. But we will win, even though I do not know exactly when," Nemtsov said.