RUSSIA | 28.01.2012

Working-class rally shows support for Putin

 

Putin is widely expected to win March's presidential election

While many middle-class Russians took to the streets in anti-Kremlin protests following elections last month, members of the working class have now begun to organize their own rallies in support of Vladimir Putin.

 

Thousands of supporters of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rallied in the city of Yekaterinburg on Saturday to back his bid to return to the Kremlin as president.

Police told Reuters that around 10,000 people gathered at the demonstration, which was organized by labor groups to show that many in Russia's working class still support Putin.

While Putin was not in attendance, many of the attendees of the rally were bused into the city for the event.

"Buses were laid on for us at the factory," Andrei Mandure, a worker at a chemical plant in the town of Lesnoy, said.

Opposition presence

Large anti-Putin rallies held in Moscow following legislative elections on December 4 were mostly attended by middle-class Russians. The protests were against what many perceived as widespread fraud perpetrated by the ruling United Russia party, which won only a narrow majority in the lower house of parliament, the Duma.

The Interfax news agency quoted regional police spokesman Valery Gorelykh as saying Saturday's "meeting had proceeded calmly without any violations of the public order."

Workers from the Uralvagonzavod factory in Yekaterinburg organized the rally, which took place near the central train station, making it easy to transport in other workers from nearby regions.

The Russian Trade Union Federation, which represents some 25 million workers, is planning pro-Putin rallies across Russia ahead of the presidential election on March 4.

Author: Andrew Bowen (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Stuart Tiffen

 

 

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