Putin defiant after protest rocks Russia
Vladimir Putin still has the support of a majority of Russians, his spokesman said on Sunday after a mass protest challenged the premier’s authority two months before he stands in presidential polls.
Organisers said 120,000 people attended the rally in central Moscow on Saturday where protesters chanted slogans against Prime Minister Putin and called for the annulment of disputed December parliamentary elections won by his party. Police put the numbers at 29,000 but AFP correspondents said the turnout was clearly bigger.
“As a politician and a presidential candidate, Putin still has the support of a majority. And we should treat the opinion of a majority with respect,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Meanwhile, last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev called on Putin to heed protester demands and quit politics instead of seeking a third term as Russian president. “I would advise Vladimir Putin to leave now. He has had three terms: two as president and one as prime minister. Three terms — that is enough,” Gorbachev told Moscow Echo radio in an interview.
