The Novgorod branch of Yabloko held a second mass rally against raising the retirement age
Press Release, 19.07.2018
On 18 July, the Novgorod branch of the Yabloko party held a second mass rally against raising the retirement age. About 300 people took part in it. The participants unanimously adopted a resolution in which they expressed no-confidence of President Putin, demanded the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev’s government and labelled the ruling United Russia party an “anti-people” party.
The text of the resolution:
“On July 19, the State Duma of the Russian Federation will consider a bill envisaging raising the retirement age from 60 to 65 for men and from 55 to 63 for women. There is no doubt that the parliament will vote for the draft law by votes of the MPs of the United Russia faction.
The Pension Fund of Russia is in crisis. In 2018, the deficit of the Pension Fund of Russia will reach 257 billion roubles. With the help of the reform, the state intends to save up to 1 trillion roubles annually. This money will be withdrawn from pensioners, who will have to retire several years later. This means that the state for some time will not need reforms to improve the efficiency of the budget spending. Revenues from raw materials, that helped the country to ensure the growth of the economy in the period of high oil and gas prices, will remain in the hands of a narrow group of oligarchs and heads of state corporations. Palaces of the Pension Fund in each region and the staff which is the largest among similar organisations in the world will remain.
Despite a series of protest actions organised by different political forces throughout the country, regional deputies everywhere “agreed” the draft law. United Russia, the Government of the Russian Federation and the president do not hear their people. We, the undersigned citizens of Russia and the residents of Novgorod:
- We express our no-confidence to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, who does not fulfill the obligations of the guarantor of the Constitution in terms of the articles “Russia is a Social State” and “In Russia it is not allowed to adopt laws that diminish or abolish the rights of citizens.”
- We demand the resignation of the Chairman of the Government of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and the Government of the Russian Federation, the initiators of the cannibalistic draft law on raising the retirement age.
- We declare the United Russia [party] an anti-people party for the unanimous approval of the law on raising the age of retirement of Russian citizens, which leads to the genocide of their own people. “
Participants of the rally unanimously voted for the adoption of the resolution.
The Novgorod branch of Yabloko invited opposition parties to create a coalition so that to counter the pension reform and hold joint protests.
Watch the video of the speeches of representatives of Yabloko: Alexei Sabelsky, Anna Cherepanova and Ksenia Cherepanova.
It should be noted that the first rally in Novgorod took place on 1 July. Over 300 residents of the city took part in it. Participants of the action noted that the labour market did not have enough jobs for the elderly and the quality of life of Russian pensioners remained extremely low compared to European countries.
In Moscow activists of Yabloko picketed the entrance to the State Duma building with a demand to dismiss the bill.
Protest actions will continue until the parliament abolishes the adoption of the law. Such a promise was made by Sergei Mitrokhin, one of the participants in the action and member of the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko.
Yabloko held this action jointly with independent trade unions representing the Confederation of Labor of Russia.
This time the police did not interfere with the picket.
Posted: July 23rd, 2018 under Yabloko Against the Government's Pension Reform.