"When you are so corrupt and used to living beyond the law, you are used to getting what you want," Kasparov said at the rally. "Let's not forget Putin was not elected; he was appointed by Yeltsin."-Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov
Kasparov spoke those words to about 2,000 coalition left and right-wing Russian politicians Saturday in an anti-government rally in Moscow. All calling for free elections next year, in hope of bringing an end to Putin's increasingly authoritarian regime.
Putin in an effort to portray to the world a picture of a leader who is tolerant and caring appeared to the state run media to allow the rare protest rally. Far away from the cameras authorities pulled hundreds of opposition activists off buses and trains and detained them along with scores of others, in many cases without explanation.
Since Kasparov retired from the professional chess circuit last year he's used his formidable intellect to challenge his most formidable opponent yet — Vladimir Putin.
Putin doesn't allow for open and fair elections and the imposing police presence at the rally was an attempt to intimidate those who might call for dissent. At issue is a new electoral law that will allow the government to label anyone as an extremist in order to ban them from running in the elections. The law also sets thresholds that will make it nearly impossible for small parties to be represented in parliament.
Putin's brand of democracy is quickly erasing everything Russian's had won before. Reforms achieved after the collapse of the Soviet Union have all but disappeared and the deliberate attempt to silencing media dissent, especially from the television networks is evident with the recent murder of senior Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya — a vocal critic of the Kremlin's policies in Chetchnya — and the mysterious poisoning of former KGB spy and Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London.
When will the world council step in an declare the Putin government unjust and force his hand to allow open elections. Maybe Kasparov is Russia's answer, as Lech Walesa
was Poland's working class saviour.
Later,
Kenaz
