Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has been a thorn in the side of the Kremlin, called for demonstrations across Russia to protest the Kremlin’s call for pension reform, essentially lengthening the retirement age, in order to deal with fiscal pressures on the Russian federal budget. As all Western economies deal with the same issue, as life expectancy lengthens, Navalny’s move seems to be a fiscally irresponsible move to garner attention and future votes. The Russian legislation seems to simply move the retirement age in line with the rest of the developed world.
“Labor unions, political parties, and opposition politician Aleksei Navalny had called on Russians to demonstrate on July 1 against a bill to raise the pension age from 60 to 65 by 2028 for men and from 55 to 63 for women by 2034. Protest rallies were reported in the Far Eastern cities of Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and Birobidzhan, as well as the Siberian city of Omsk and Orenburg in the Urals,” reported RFERL.
В Оренбурге только вчера выиграли суд и отстояли право на акцию против повышения пенсионного возраста. Сейчас по городу идёт шествие pic.twitter.com/mfpmDIWZta
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) July 1, 2018
“More than 500 people gathered on July 1 in Birobidzhan, the capital of Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Region, carrying posters with slogans such as “The hungry pensioner is the shame of the state,” “Die before retirement,” and “No to [Prime Minister Dmitry] Medvedev’s cannibalistic pension reform!” In Omsk, 4,500 people took part in a rally at the Blinov sports and concert complex, with some speakers calling for the resignation of Medvedev’s government. During the rally on Birobidzhan’s Lenin Square, the participants urged the authorities to scrap the bill on the pension reform, to stop the rise in gasoline prices, and not to increase the value-added tax,” added RFERL.
