An opposition leader vowed on Tuesday that a two-day rally to support the online election of a leadership council for the opposition would go ahead despite a refusal by City Hall to authorize the event.
Sergei Udaltsov, who heads the Left Front organization, said the "Election Day" gathering would be held on the weekend of Oct. 20 and 21 on Pushkin Square with or without the consent of the authorities.
"We haven't received an official response from City Hall," he on Twitter. "We will push for the event at the declared spot."
Another opposition leader, Denis Bilunov, said City Hall had rejected the application and suggested an alternative site on Krymsky Val, near the Central House of Artists, with a limit of 2,000 attendees, Interfax reported.
Udaltsov, who first proposed the election in January, had wanted to stage the Oct. 20 and 21 rallies from noon to 6 p.m. The online election for the 45-seat council will be held Oct. 21.
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