The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has opened his presidential election campaign office in Perm.
He met local volunteers from the campaign and discussed an upcoming nationwide anti-corruption protest on Monday. The opposition leader plans to open 77 affiliated offices around Russia to push his bid to become president next year.
“I’m not satisfied with this for many, many years. That’s why I began this election campaign,” Navalny told supporters. “That’s why I go from one region to another saying simple things: ‘Guys, I’m not satisfied with this, you’re not satisfied with this.’ But for 18 years everybody has kept silent.”
Navalny has emerged as a major irritant for the Kremlin after thousands of people across Russia attended anti-graft protests he organised in March. He revived some Russians’ interest in politics by publicising what he says are outrageous cases of top government officials and Kremlin-connected businessmen abusing the system to amass huge wealth.