It took several minutes and a woolly hat to resolve the latest differences among the loose alliance of Russian opposition groups challenging Vladimir Putin's 12-year rule.
Unable to agree on the order of a protest march through Moscow on Saturday, the organisers, gathered round a few tables shoved together in a crowded Moscow cultural centre, borrowed the hat from a woman bystander and drew lots from it.
A row was averted. Non-affiliated protesters will lead the march, increasing pressure on Putin to allow free elections and open up the political system, and they will be followed by liberals, right-wing groups and nationalists. The many groups behind the biggest protests since Putin rose to power disagree on more than they agree on, and their chaotic meetings are often an exercise in conflict resolution. Fearing the Kremlin will exploit any public differences, they are keeping their political demands and sensitive political discussions to a minimum to help maintain the fragile unity.
"A coalition as broad as this can only concentrate on achieving one goal," said Maxim Blant, a journalist debating the protest movement with other civic activists during a political discussion one snowy evening this week.
"The groups involved all want a level playing field for political competition in Russia. This unites them even though they have different values otherwise. They understand the rules
of the game - they must focus on the one goal that unites them."
Test of momentum
Two opposition rallies in Moscow on December 10 and December 24 attracted tens of thousands of people angered by allegations of fraud in a parliamentary election on December 4 that was won by Putin's ruling United Russia party. Saturday's march will test the opposition's ability to keep up the momentum despite freezing weather, Putin's refusal to meet their main demands and the prime minister's all-but certain
victory in a presidential election on March 4.
"We know that Putin will win on March 4. But we want to ensure he is naked and wet when he enters the Kremlin, with all respect for him gone," said Sergei Parkhomenko, a journalist who is part of the organising committee. Protesters were also united by an announcement by Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev on September 24 that they plan to swap jobs after the presidential election, a move seen by many Russians as openly flouting democracy.
The protest movement has brought together such diverse figures as former chess champion and opposition politician Garry Kasparov, environmental campaigner Yevgenia Chirikova, anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, who has expressed nationalist views, and left-wing leader Sergei Udaltsov. None has emerged as the group's leader although Navalny, 35, is widely seen as having the potential to step into that role.
At the first organisational meeting, his seat, marked by a place name, was empty at the start because he had been jailed for 15 days for his role in an earlier protest in December.
One of the organisers, liberal politician Boris Nemtsov, served in government under President Boris Yeltsin but others, such as novelist Boris Akunin, have no experience of politics and are not affiliated with any political party.
Chirikova, who led a campaign to prevent the Khimki forest outside Moscow being bulldozed to make way for a highway, said the groups' differences should not be seen as a weakness.
"Our campaign over Khimki forest brought together right-wing people, left-wing people, all sorts of people. That's why we succeeded," she said, explaining that the broad support base had made the authorities sit up and take notice.
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