Demonstrators take part in a rally to support opposition and independent candidates after authorities refused to register them for September elections to the Moscow City Duma, Moscow, July 20, 2019. (Photo by Maxim ZMEYEV \/ AFP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
More than 20,000 people packed a Moscow square Saturday to protest the authorities\u2019 refusal to allow opposition candidates to register for local polls.<\/p>\n
Joined by opposition leaders such as Alexei Navalny, protesters gathered in the capital after authorities refused to register independent politicians seeking to contest the September vote for the capital\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n
The crowd chanted: \u201cThis is my city!\u201d<\/p>\n
White Counter, an NGO that tracks participation in protest rallies, said about 21,500 people took part in Saturday\u2019s rally.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will show them this is a dangerous game,\u201d Navalny bellowed from a stage set up on the protest square.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should fight for our candidates,\u201d he said as the huge crowed cheered and waved Russian flags. <\/p>\n
The 43-year-old threatened an even bigger rally next week, near the mayor\u2019s office, unless Moscow\u2019s electoral authorities register a new crop of popular politicians including Ilya Yashin, Lyubov Sobol and Dmitry Gudkov for the vote within seven days.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not give up!\u201d added Navalny ally Sobol, who has been on a hunger strike for a week to protest the authorities\u2019 refusal to allow her to run. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am sure that we will win,\u201d said the 31-year-old lawyer, propped up by an ally on stage.<\/p>\n
Fellow opposition contender Gudkov accused the authorities of stealing not only people\u2019s money and votes but their very future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been living in an occupied country for the past 20 years,\u201d the former lawmaker said.<\/p>\n
Opposition candidates fought tooth and nail to get on the ballot paper as they seek to capitalise on popular discontent with the Russian authorities, falling approval ratings for Putin, and anger over declining living standards and unchecked corruption.<\/p>\n
\u2013 We are not \u2018dead souls\u2019<\/strong> \u2013They were made to jump through countless hoops, with each having to collect 5,000 signatures from supporters to be eligible.<\/p>\nElectoral authorities this week still refused to register a number of the would-be candidates, accusing them of faking some of the signatures. <\/p>\nCritics said some of the officials\u2019 reasoning bordered on the absurd.<\/p>\nThe Kremlin dismissed the opposition\u2019s complaints, but many Russians are furious at what they perceive as electoral interference.<\/p>\nGreg Yudin, a lecturer at the Higher School of Economics, who supported an independent candidate but whose signature was not recognised, said he was surprised to discover \u2014 along with thousands of other Muscovites \u2014 that he apparently did not exist.<\/p>\n\u201cAll of us are ghosts. We are the nobodies,\u201d he said on Facebook.<\/p>\nPolitical observer Kirill Rogov said the independent candidates\u2019 exclusion was \u201cone of the largest frauds in Russia\u2019s electoral history\u201d.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are witnessing a major large-scale crime,\u201d he wrote on his blog.<\/p>\nSome 7.2 million Muscovites are eligible to elect 45 lawmakers to the local parliament, currently dominated by the United Russia ruling party.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Electoral authorities this week still refused to register a number of the would-be candidates, accusing them of faking some of the signatures. <\/p>\n
Critics said some of the officials\u2019 reasoning bordered on the absurd.<\/p>\n
The Kremlin dismissed the opposition\u2019s complaints, but many Russians are furious at what they perceive as electoral interference.<\/p>\n
Greg Yudin, a lecturer at the Higher School of Economics, who supported an independent candidate but whose signature was not recognised, said he was surprised to discover \u2014 along with thousands of other Muscovites \u2014 that he apparently did not exist.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of us are ghosts. We are the nobodies,\u201d he said on Facebook.<\/p>\n
Political observer Kirill Rogov said the independent candidates\u2019 exclusion was \u201cone of the largest frauds in Russia\u2019s electoral history\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are witnessing a major large-scale crime,\u201d he wrote on his blog.<\/p>\n
Some 7.2 million Muscovites are eligible to elect 45 lawmakers to the local parliament, currently dominated by the United Russia ruling party.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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