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Hello, this is Navalny. On May 5, I call on
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all of you to take part in marches, rallies,
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and demonstrations for our right to be citizens
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of our own country.
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Why is it essential to do this?
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Because on May 7, Putin will hold his
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inauguration, and after 18 years in power
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will ceremonially remain for another six years.
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And most importantly, he clearly plans
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to rule for these six years as if he were
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not just the top state official here
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but a real tsar. Everyone supports him,
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everything around belongs to him, his family, and
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his friends. We do not exist here at all, even by
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the results of these completely
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rigged elections, in which
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real competitors were not allowed to run.
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Fifty-three million voters did not vote for
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Putin. They are very different people with different
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views, but overall they have
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ideas and beliefs about
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how Russia should develop that differ from Putin's.
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Their opinion must be heard, because they are
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just as much full-fledged citizens, and right now
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Putin is completely ignoring them — and us — so
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carefully pretending not to notice us. He has so
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thoroughly memorized the phrase that we have
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no proposals and no constructive
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agenda. I believe that we can have
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a dialogue, especially at the level of
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the presidency, with people
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who offer constructive
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ideas, even if they are critical in nature.
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If the issue is only about
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drawing attention to oneself, then that is not
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interesting for dialogue. But if we do not
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remind them of our presence by going out into
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the streets of the cities where we live,
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where we work and study, where we pay
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taxes, then soon the Kremlin will treat
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us like
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serfs who must
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work and bow low before their superiors,
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taking off their caps and silently accepting
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new taxes,
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restrictions, and idiotic laws. But we
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do have something to say, and these are
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entirely constructive proposals. We
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demand a fight against corruption. Just over
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a year ago, our investigation was released:
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*He Is Not Dimon to You* (a reference to Navalny’s anti-corruption investigation into Dmitry Medvedev). Twenty-six million people
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watched it — that is 17% of the country's population.
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And all opinion polls showed that people
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demanded an investigation, people demanded
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answers. And what was the response?
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Raids on the Anti-Corruption Foundation, seizure of
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equipment,
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and the detention of those who came out to protest. And
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interestingly, at the same time in
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South Korea there was a corruption
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scandal involving a president who stole
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incomparably less than Medvedev, and
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now we can compare the results.
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Massive demonstrations forced the Korean
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authorities to act, and President Park Geun-
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hye recently received a 24-year prison sentence.
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And what about Medvedev? Everything is great — he has only become
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richer, and just yesterday he declared
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to all our faces that the last six years for
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Russia were so successful that other countries
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have done less in decades. These six
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years were years of trials, trials of
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strength
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for our economy. But we did not just survive,
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we began to develop, no matter how much they
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tried to hinder us from abroad.
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We have traveled a path that many countries
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spent decades on. But listen:
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even by official statistics, we have had
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four straight years of falling incomes
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for the population. Everyone except oligarchs and top
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officials
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has grown poorer. More than 20% of the population
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lives below the poverty line, and Medvedev and
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Putin tell us: everything is fine, we have
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to keep going in the same spirit.
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The positive momentum
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of the Russian economy is being maintained, and our
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deficit is smaller than we expected.
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Our budget deficit, our reserves —
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that is, Russia's economy is on
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the rise, and this trend
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is continuing, everything will be fine. Well then,
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let us come out and say: no, guys,
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actually there are tens of
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millions of people in this country who do not agree with
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your assessment of the situation in the country. Let us
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go out into the streets on May 5 with entirely
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constructive demands for a fight against
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poverty and inequality. A simple example:
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sanctions were recently imposed against
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our oligarchs, and Putin and his
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government immediately
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declared that they must be supported and
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that special
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offshore zones must be created for them. But tell me, in a country where
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more than half of citizens earn less than
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35,000 rubles (about 35,000 RUB), and tens of
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millions earn less than 25,000 rubles (about 25,000 RUB),
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have they ever once been offered
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any kind of support?
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Food prices are rising, utility and housing costs are rising,
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and buying school clothes for children is becoming
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more and more difficult, while wages are falling. Where, where are
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the government's emergency measures? Why do they
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move so quickly only to save
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oligarchs? If they care about business
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and jobs, then maybe they should
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rush to save small business, which
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needs easier conditions to operate — it is simply
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collapsing. No, they are interested only in
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oligarchs because from those
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oligarchs they get money. You and I have
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a very, very constructive
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demand: return elections to the country. Because in
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Russia, there are almost no direct elections left
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for mayors of major cities.
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For governors, there is the municipal filter (a Russian electoral rule requiring candidates to collect signatures from municipal deputies, often used to block opposition candidates).
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In the federation, Putin is not elected.
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He is deliberately reducing the number
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of elected offices because he is afraid
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of elections.
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But you and I do want elections, so let’s
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make ourselves heard. Less than a month
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ago, we witnessed simply
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mass ballot stuffing—we saw it right there on
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the official live broadcasts from polling stations.
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So what happened? Were there mass arrests for this?
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Are investigative
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teams across the country working tooth and nail
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to jail everyone who did it?
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But they are obliged—obliged
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by law to do it. No—Putin told us
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these were the fairest elections,
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the most legitimate, the most transparent,
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the purest in our country’s history.
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So let’s go out
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and say: no. We demand that everyone who
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was caught on your own
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live broadcasts cheating
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be jailed. It’s the most constructive demand in the world.
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We demand access to the mass media
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for the opposition.
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I’m not saying, “Give me a TV channel.” No—
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everyone: communists, liberals, nationalists,
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the right, the left—everyone must have access
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to the media that we fund through the
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state budget.
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Because television right now really is
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a zombie box, where there are only
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those who do nothing but fawn over Putin,
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who in turn smiles and tells us:
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“In Russia, there is no censorship, no censorship
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in any sphere.” Well then,
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let him, on May 5,
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see the people who disagree with him.
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We demand the release of political prisoners.
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We demand an end to jailing people for
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posts and likes on social media. We demand
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that the internet be left alone.
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We demand the dissolution of Roskomnadzor (Russia’s state communications and media regulator). Right
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now, this very moment, they are saying they are
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blocking
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the Telegram messenger. Why?
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On whose behalf? Who even needs this?
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Is this in the interests of Russia’s citizens? No. Well then,
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if that’s the case, let’s go out and say so,
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because otherwise we will never be heard.
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We demand our right to peaceful
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rallies and marches.
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We know that in all rich and developed
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countries, people have this right. That is why
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those countries are rich: when their
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governments perform badly, people
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take to the streets, express their views, and
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the government tries to do better. But
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when everyone stays silent, when everything is forbidden,
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when schoolchildren and students are told
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by teachers, “Don’t go to rallies, be
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like everyone else, submit, obey, believe lies and
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repeat lies,” then instead of Russia’s development
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we get that famous
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postal drone for 1.2 million rubles (about tens of thousands of U.S. dollars at the time),
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which became a symbol of Putin’s Russia.
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They spent a pile of money, lied that it was
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high technology, staged a
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ceremonial launch,
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and it took off, crashed into a wall, and broke
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into pieces. That is our achievement
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in 2018. We do not want this. We know and
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believe that Russia can live better,
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more prosperously. Russia can and will be a country with
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advanced technology. In full
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accordance with the law, we are submitting applications
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for May 5. It is a day off; we will not
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disturb anyone. What’s more, on May 1 there will be
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May Day demonstrations everywhere
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organized by the authorities, and there are enough of us
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to demand those same
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squares, those same streets. We are the same
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citizens; we have the same rights. We do not
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need any special conditions—only
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equal rights.
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But if they tell us again, “You have no rights,
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we will give you nothing, you are nobody here,”
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then we will once again be convinced how important it is
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to remind them that we exist, and we will go out
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to the places where we filed our applications,
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in full
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accordance with the Constitution. No one and
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never will be able to turn us into
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rightless serfs. Putin is not our tsar.
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On May 5, wherever you live, whatever
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your political views,
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if you consider yourself a citizen of Russia
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who has rights, take to the streets.
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Join an action organized by our headquarters or
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submit an application for your own action. It does not
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matter.
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Spread this appeal as well—this
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will be your first small contribution to
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organizing the action.
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Russia is our country, and we will not allow
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anyone to pretend as if we have no
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rights here at all.