Dec 24 set as deadline for new parliamentary election in Russia

PanARMENIAN.Net - On the heels of the biggest protests Russia has seen in nearly 20 years, the country’s resurgent opposition has given the Kremlin an ultimatum: Annul the Dec 4 election that many see as marred by fraud and call a fresh vote, or face even larger protests in the weeks to come. That is, if the country’s fractious opposition can maintain its new-found unity that long, The Globe and Mail said.

“Moscow’s streets are set to see a flurry of rallies between now and the opposition’s Dec 24 deadline for a new election date to be set. The opposition also wants to see Vladimir Churlov, chairman of the country’s Central Elections Commission, fired and replaced. He is accused of overseeing systemic fraud, including ballot-box stuffing, voter intimidation and barring all but a handful of officially approved parties from taking part.

The opposition’s demands come on the heels of a breakthrough protest Saturday, Dec 10 that saw tens of thousands of people from across the political spectrum gather peacefully within sight of the Kremlin walls to demand new elections. While the crowd was largely young and middle class and organized primarily via Facebook, flags representing liberal democratic and social democratic parties, as well as hard-right nationalists, hard-left communists and a handful of anarchists, were all raised, speaking to the internal divisions that were not quite put aside for the day,” the article stressed.