09.05.2003 16:34:01 Left-wing parties put forward political demands at rally in Moscow MOSCOW. May 9 (Interfax) - The left-wing parties put forward political demands at a mass rally in Moscow coinciding with Victory Day.
Many WWII veterans support the Russian Communist Party.
"We must absorb the spirit of victory and the power of the united country and friendship. We must dismiss this government," Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said at the rally.
"It is an interim government deprived of the Russian spirit, Soviet energy, courage and strength," Zyuganov noted.
The most radical demand was put forward by Viktor Ilyukhin, who is leader of the Movement for Support of the Army, Defense Industry and Military Research and a Duma deputy. Ilyukhin proposed eliminating the presidential post in Russia. Moreover, "the issue of dismissing [Prime Minister Mikhail] Kasyanov's government should be raised in early June," he said.
"A revolutionary situation is coming to seed in Russia. Poverty has reached unseen levels," he said.
A participant in the rally climbed the roof of the Lubyanka metro station and mounted a red flag there. The police took down the flag and detained the person.
Zyuganov was outraged by the incident.
"I am telling the police chief, who is here on the square, to order to have the person who took down the flag punished," he said.
The left-wing march proceeded via Tverskaya Street. Traffic was stopped. The Moscow city police and Interior Ministry's troops saw to the event's safe proceeding.
The police reported that thousands of people participated in the rally. They did not specify the exact number of protesters. The organizers told Interfax that they applied for permission to hold a rally comprising around 10,000 people.
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