Russian opposition groups will stage a day of protests on Saturday, holding rallies in dozens of cities in a bid to mobilize those angry at sharp hikes in taxes and bills during the worst economic slump in a decade.

A string of protests in recent weeks and a poor showing in last week's regional elections demonstrated growing opposition to the United Russia party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

But splits between opposition parties have raised doubts as to whether a coherent protest movement can challenge the authorities.

"People are going onto the streets because they have no other way to express their opinion," said Ilya Yashin, one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, which is organising several of the rallies.

"People are starting to link their poor economic situation with the political monopoly in Russia," he said.
The crisis brought a sudden end last year to 10 years of growth -- eight during Putin's 2000-2008 presidency -- and has driven unemployment over 9 percent.

Last year, gross domestic product fell by about 8 percent, Russia's worst performance since 1994.

Organisers say they expect thousands of people to take part in at least four of the protests, in the far east port of Vladivostok, Irkutsk in Siberia and Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Several other rallies have been banned by local authorities, raising the possibility of clashes with police.
The Kremlin has developed a system of tight controls over the electoral system and has long seen mass protests as one of the biggest potential threats to its power.

Pro-Western opposition party Yabloko and the anti-Kremlin Solidarity movement have joined forces in several regions with groups representing car owners but the three opposition parties represented in parliament have distanced themselves from them.

"The mood has changed, but it has not yet turned into a movement," said Masha Lipman, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Centre think tank. "But for the government the stakes are extremely high. Even a minimal risk is still a risk for them."

The protesters will present a wide range of demands, but many are angry about bills for municipal services, which have risen by up to 40 percent in some regions in the past year, and want a recent hike in taxes for car owners to be reversed.

Kremlin officials were taken by surprise in January when 10,000 people gathered in the Western exclave of Kaliningrad for an opposition rally, one of the largest in a decade.

But organisers there withdrew plans for a new protest on Saturday after offers of talks with the authorities -- and reports of training exercises by riot police ahead of the rally.

United Russia won all eight elections to regional parliaments, but results showed its support falling sharply in seven of those regions, which analysts linked to the crisis.

(REUTERS)