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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Supporters of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny have protested across Russia against the expected increase in the retirement age nationwide. a challenge for the authorities who organize a large number of regional elections the same day.
The changes, which have been submitted to parliament, have reduced the popularity of President Vladimir Putin by 15% and are the most unpopular measure taken by the government since the cancellation in 2005 of the measures taken by Soviet pensioners.
Navalny, barred from state television and prevented from running against President Putin earlier this year, hopes to take advantage of public anger over the reform.
He had planned to hold a protest in Moscow on Sunday, but last month a court found him guilty of breaking protest laws and jailed him for 30 days. Navalny said the move was aimed at derailing the protests.
However, his supporters continue without him and hold rallies in more than 80 cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The first rallies were held in eastern Russia on Sunday morning. Images from a rally in Ulan-Ude, some 4,400 km east of Moscow, showed protesters crossing the city holding red balloons escorted by police.
"Putin and his government have looted the budget in the last 18 years," said Navalny's team in a statement.
"All the while, they assured us that there would be no increase in the age of retirement. And now, they put it in place. The authorities do not listen to people and that means it's time to go down the street. "
In Moscow, the authorities rejected a demand for protest from Navalny supporters in the city center, pointing out the possibility of the police dispersing the rally by detaining people, as they often did in the past.
After being amended by Putin, the reforms envisage raising the retirement age for men from 65 to 60 and from 60 to 60 for women. The average life expectancy of men is 66 years and that of women 77 years.
Opinion polls place Navalny's support at one figure, but supporters say he won nearly a third of the vote in a 2013 Moscow mayoral race and could give Putin a chance if he was allowed to run against him. field.
Putin is keen to never mention Navalny by name, but suggested he was Washington's choice for the Russian presidency.
Navalny compared Putin to an autocratic tsar who hung on power too long. Authorities have not registered his party Russia of the future.
Elections to select the leaders of 26 of Russia's 85 regions are also held on Sunday, including in Moscow.
Google withdrew a YouTube ad from Navalny after authorities complained that the videos would violate an election silence law before Sunday's vote for regional governors, a Navalny contributor said Saturday.
Edition by Raissa Kasolowsky
