Tens of thousands of Russians have taken to the streets. Their demands are simple. They want the election which was held on 4 December to be held again and to remain free of corruption. It is clear that Vladimir Putin’s party lost a great deal of support.
The poll results show that it took 50 % of the vote, but the people of Russia think differently. Many believe that the election was rigged and that something has to be done about it. Some have suggested that Putin should resign, and one has to wonder what the way forward will be.
President Dimitriy Medvedev has ordered a probe. But when one considers that the election was fraudulent to begin with, then the board is not likely to find anything which went wrong.
But the people have not been placated. As many as 50,000 people gathered on an island near the Kremlin to demand a re-run. Other, smaller rallies took place in St Petersburg and other cities. What is different this time, is that all other opposition supporters have rallied. Communists, nationalists and Western-leaning liberals turned out together despite divisions between them.
Demonstrations in the immediate aftermath of the election saw more than 1,000 arrests, mostly in Moscow, and several key protest leaders such as the anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny were jailed. This was to be expected, but the Russian establishment will be wary of being too tough, as it might fuel the fire even more.
Modern day Russia has never experienced popular protests like these before. And for Putin it is a huge personal blow. During his decade in power, first as president then prime minister, he had grown used to being Russia's most popular and powerful politician.
Authorities had permitted the protest on condition the rally was relocated from central Revolution Square to Bolotnaya Square, where access points could be easily controlled. That they are being allowed to protest can be seen as a signal that despite the tough talk and rhetoric, Russia’s establishment may be thinking about introducing reforms.
According to the official results of the elections to Russia's Duma, United Russia saw its share of the vote fall from 64% to 49%, though it remains easily the biggest party.
Putin, who was president between 2000 and 2008, remains widely predicted to win a presidential election in March. And he is on the warpath. On Thursday, he blamed the US for stoking the recent unrest, after Secretary of State Hilary Clinton expressed reservations over the poll.
The truth of the matter is that this anger has been simmering under the surface for years. Many thought that Russia would eventually embrace democracy after the fall of Communism. But it hasn’t been the case. Corruption and nepotism is still rife, and there is still a sense of fear in Russia’s cities. But as we have seen elsewhere in the world, an iron fist is not the answer to civil unrest. It happened in Libya, it happened in Egypt and Tunisia and is still happening in Syria. When the people want change, the only thing you can do is give it to them. Russia would be making a huge mistake if it resorts to repression. There is still hope. If the people can swing their demand of new elections, then the political structure might be preserved and reformed. It is, at the end of the day, up to the ruling party.