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Russian Premier's Spokeswoman Sees No Point In Responding To 'People's Strolls'
Interfax - 5.28.12 - JRL 2012-98

"I can only tell you my opinion: an indefinite stroll is a rather strange expression of a civic position, which is more like the children's game of 'cops and robbers'," Timakova said during her interview with the Snob magazine.

In her opinion, the question is what the opposition's demands are. "You want to take a stroll around the city? Do as you please! But if there are 400 of you, then this is called an unauthorized rally, according to the rules, and the city authorities need to take the appropriate measures," Timakova believes.

In her opinion, in the case of these "strolls" the authorities simply have nothing to respond to. "What is their request? One cannot respond to strolls along boulevards," the prime minister's press secretary believes.

"At some point, this turned into a Facebook get-together. Bolotnaya (square) or Prospekt Sakharova (rallies) were a challenge that could not be ignored. There was a message: A large number of people demanded to be respected as citizens, they exercised their civil rights, tried to clearly express them and make it a possible source of pressure on the authorities, pressure in a good sense," Timakova said.

Asked whether the authorities and the opposition could come to an agreement, Timakova noted that this dialogue could be productive in the Open Government format. "This is normal, this is understandable and useful work. This collaboration eventually creates the desired effect and joins efforts that the authorities and civil society should make to change the situation in the country," the prime minister's press secretary noted.

At the same time, according to her, when Dmitriy Medvedev was president and held a meeting in the Open Government format devoted to fighting corruption, the meeting was attended by two lawyers from the RosPil project (created by opposition leader Aleksey Navalnyy) who "competently criticized the law on public procurement". The project's creator Aleksey Navalnyy described the meeting as a "profanation".

"But the point is that no-one has a patent to fight, against corruption or for purity of the ranks or for a better world. We all have only our own ideas about this, and everyone has the right to implement them - any citizens, be they government officials, civil society activists, journalists, artists, anyone," Timakova noted.

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

"I can only tell you my opinion: an indefinite stroll is a rather strange expression of a civic position, which is more like the children's game of 'cops and robbers'," Timakova said during her interview with the Snob magazine.

In her opinion, the question is what the opposition's demands are. "You want to take a stroll around the city? Do as you please! But if there are 400 of you, then this is called an unauthorized rally, according to the rules, and the city authorities need to take the appropriate measures," Timakova believes.

In her opinion, in the case of these "strolls" the authorities simply have nothing to respond to. "What is their request? One cannot respond to strolls along boulevards," the prime minister's press secretary believes.

"At some point, this turned into a Facebook get-together. Bolotnaya (square) or Prospekt Sakharova (rallies) were a challenge that could not be ignored. There was a message: A large number of people demanded to be respected as citizens, they exercised their civil rights, tried to clearly express them and make it a possible source of pressure on the authorities, pressure in a good sense," Timakova said.

Asked whether the authorities and the opposition could come to an agreement, Timakova noted that this dialogue could be productive in the Open Government format. "This is normal, this is understandable and useful work. This collaboration eventually creates the desired effect and joins efforts that the authorities and civil society should make to change the situation in the country," the prime minister's press secretary noted.

At the same time, according to her, when Dmitriy Medvedev was president and held a meeting in the Open Government format devoted to fighting corruption, the meeting was attended by two lawyers from the RosPil project (created by opposition leader Aleksey Navalnyy) who "competently criticized the law on public procurement". The project's creator Aleksey Navalnyy described the meeting as a "profanation".

"But the point is that no-one has a patent to fight, against corruption or for purity of the ranks or for a better world. We all have only our own ideas about this, and everyone has the right to implement them - any citizens, be they government officials, civil society activists, journalists, artists, anyone," Timakova noted.


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