Constitutional Court chairman: Russian opposition should be “actively moderate”

Opposition activists in Russia, who are discontent with the results of the December 4 parliamentary elections, should be more moderate not to trigger a national disaster in the country, Russian Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin said. “Overflowing frenzy should be contrasted with smart, resolute and active moderation,” Zorkin told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta government newspaper. He compared the situation with the 1993 constitutional crisis, when military force was used to resolve a standoff between the Russian president and parliament, which resulted in hundreds of deaths, and said any similar developments should be prevented this time. State Duma elections saw the ruling United Russia party win nearly half of the vote, retaining a simple majority in the lower house. Independent observers and critics claimed the vote was slanted in favor of United Russia and cited some ballot stuffing. The authorities said the elections were fair and irregularities were minor, pledging to investigate all violations. Thousands went out to protest the vote results in the first three days after elections, and hundreds were detained. A few days later, on Saturday, an unprecedented number of people - tens of thousands - gathered in downtown Moscow for authorized protests, which ended peacefully. Rallies also took place in other cities. The protesters demanded a revote or a new vote count at all polling places where violations had been reported, and Central Election Commission head Vladimir Churov’s dismissal. President Dmitry Medvedev said he disagreed with ideas voiced at the protest rallies.