28.07.2001 BPF Press-Service
Belarusian Popular Front “Adradzennie” Supports Single Democratic Candidate
An extraordinary session of the BPF Sojm took place on July 28. Convening the session was necessitated by the decision of the prospective presidential candidates [to select Mr Hancaryk as the single candidate from their ranks], announced on July 21. After a long and heated discussion, the Sojm decided to support the single candidate from the democratic forces [Mr. Hancaryk], on condition that his position regarding the issues of Belarus’s independence, economic reforms, re-distribution of authority among the different branches of power, guarantees for the Belarusian language and culture, would be clearly formulated.
At the same time, the Sojm proposed that Uladzimir Hancaryk [Goncharik] and Siamion Domas [Domash] should conclude an agreement based on the principle of “president and a power-wielding prime-minister”. The BPF Chairman Vincuk Viacorka stated that “points were made at the session of Sojm - not entirely groundlessly - that after the registration [of candidates], the configuration might change: one or even both of the two candidates may be refused registration, which then will create a new situation for us.”
The Sojm adopted the following resolution:
“We support the single candidate from the democratic forces, since the votes of the democratic electorate should not be split amongst several candidates.
The BPF Sojm thanks the members of our organisation for their self-sacrificial work during the collection of signatures [for the registration of the nominations]. This has made it possible to reach this very important stage of the campaign - the registration of democratic presidential candidates.
Recognising its responsibility for the fate of the elections, the BPF will continue to work in the areas of monitoring the elections, information campaign, and the campaign of public non-political mobilisation. At the same time, our organisation will actively support the single candidate [Hancaryk] on certain conditions: his position regarding the guarantees of Belarus independence, re-distribution of power, democratisation and reforms, guarantees for the Belarusian language and culture, must be clearly formulated. The Sojm calls on U. Hancaryk and S. Domas to conclude an agreement on power-sharing, according to the scheme of ‘president and power-wielding premier’.
The Belarusian Popular Front is acting in coalition with all the principal democratic forces in order to secure a victory over the regime.”
The BPF Sojm also passed a resolution regarding the danger of falsification of the outcomes of the vote:
“The present regime is making preparations for a blanket falsification of the results of the presidential election. Representatives of political parties, public organisations, and workers collectives have for no reason been refused participation in the Electoral Commissions, which is a violation of all democratic procedures and even of the country’s Electoral Code. Early voting [prior to the election day] has not been abolished. All protests from Belarusian and international organisations have been ignored.
We appeal to the Belarusian public and to the democratic international community, to do everything possible to ensure that the Belarusian people can have the right of choice reflecting the nation’s striving for changes. The situation makes us warn of the danger of election fraud, and to issue a call for readiness to offer resolute resistance to the violation of expressed will of the people. Such fraud would constitute a crime which the BPF will never condone.
We demand an open and complete check of whether Mr. Lukashenka’s electoral team complies with the Electoral Code, e.g. whether the very forms for collection signatures nominating him contain the necessary data on place of residence. In the case that violations of the law by Mr. Lukashenka or his electoral team are confirmed, we shall demand that the candidature of Lukashenka should be withdrawn from nomination.”
Leaders of Major Parties of Belarus Meet with PACE Delegation.
The leaders of the major parties, Messrs Vincuk Viacorka, Anatol Labiedzka, Leanid Lemiasonak, Mikola Statkievic, Mesdames Valancina Palevikova and Alena Skryhan, as well as a group of experts, had a meeting with a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. This delegation included Mr Terry Davis [MP] (the chair of the PACE Political Committee), Mr Wolfgang Berent (the rapporteur of this Committee on Belarus), and Mr Cyril Svoboda (representative of the juridical and human rights Committee of the Assembly). Ambassador Hans-Georg Wieck [OSCE] was also present at the meeting. The main issue of interest of the PACE delegation was the selection of the single [opposition] candidate, and the chances that the elections would be democratic.
The speakers from the Belarusian side were Messrs Vincuk Viacorka, Anatol Labiedzka, and Mrs Valancina Palevikova. Vincuk Viacorka stressed that “as a result of the first stage of the campaign, the political parties, and the organised [civic] structures in general, have demonstrated their effectiveness. Only those prospective candidates who had the backing of real nation-wide structures - Mr. Domas, Mr. Hancaryk - actually collected the required number [100,000] of authentic signatures for their nominations. After the registration of the nominations, there will be an urgent need to draw those who had worked on behalf of Siamion Domas, into the campaign. The majority of Mr. Domas’s campaign team, as well as the majority of those who signed for him, come from the Belarusian Popular Front, and hence the future position of Siamion Domash also in a sense depends on that of the BPF. We should like to recall that the BPF has declared its support to the single candidate [Mr. Hancaryk] at its last Sojm on July 28, but at the same time the BPF requests value - i.e. programmatic - guarantees on the part of Mr Hancaryk, as well as an agreement on personnel, so as to outline a role for the BPF structures and for Mr Domas, according to the scheme of ‘president and power-wielding premier’”.
Mr Vincuk Viacorka expressed his surprise at Mr Terry Davis’s [MP] insistence on seeing Messrs M. Marynic [Marinich] and L. Sinicyn [Sinitsyn] in the coalition - while at the same time downgrading the role of the Belarusian Popular Front and Mr Siamion Domas. As was pointed out, it is not Messrs Marynic and Sinicyn who will have to do the campaigning, but those who went round collecting the signatures while meeting people door by door.
Party of BPF Calls on Agents of Belarusian Secret Services not to Break Law
On August 2 to 3, the KGB carried out search and interrogation operation directed against the leaders of the Young Front in Minsk and the Minsk Province [oblast]. The party of the BPF expressed its indignation at the actions of the secret services and issued the following statement:
“During the last few days, the members of the BPF Party Messrs Uladzimir Labkovic, Jauhien Turaviec, Aleh Nikulin, as well as the Young Front members Messrs Paval Sieviaryniec, Michal Saramiet, Kiryl Kamarouski, Alaksiej Fralou, Andrej Bienias, Michal Asmykovic, Miss Natalla Makovik, Mr Jauhien Afnahiel, Miss Nastassia Karpovic, Messrs Zmicier Kaspiarovic, Alaksiej Carniajeu, Michas Saucou, were summoned by the KGB and interrogated regarding the explosion in the Russian Federation embassy on May 30. Most of the interrogations were conducted with crude violations of the law. Many of those interrogated were not told their rights, some were summoned by telephone, and the written summonses did not specify in which capacity they were summoned. The KGB agents made threats and groundless accusations. Moreover, the whole campaign of interrogations carried a clear political character: the KGB investigators were interested not so much in that “act of terrorism” as rather in the Young Front’s activities and the electoral plans of the democratic forces.
The BPF Party views these actions by KGB as the execution of a political order. We call upon the servicemen of the Belarusian Secret Services not to break the law, to stop persecuting the democratic youth, and to take heed rather of the threat to Belarus’s independence caused by Lukashenka’s regime, as well as to the cases of the disappearance of well-known politicians from the opposition”.
Sojm of BPF “Adradzennie” Confirms Support to Mr U. Hancaryk
A session of the BPF Sojm took place on August 11. As before, this session became a scene of disputes over how the BPF should act in the campaign where there are no BPF members amongst the nominees.
The Sojm passed a resolution, confirming the readiness of the BPF to work on behalf of the single candidate [Mr. Hancaryk], on the condition of his concluding a pact on his future policies. The resolution also demands the integration of the candidates’ electoral teams as soon as possible. During the debates, the members of the BPF stressed the necessity of preserving the BPF’s autonomy within the framework of the integrated campaign network for the candidate, and also that an appropriate role should be secured for the BPF in his integrated campaign headquarters:
The Resolution the Sojm of the BPF “Adradzennie.”
An Agreement was signed on August 11 between the leaders of the political parties - members of the Co-ordinating Council of Democratic Forces (CCDF), and the two presidential candidates, Messrs Siamion Domas [Domash] and Uladzimer Hancaryk [Goncharik, Hancharyk]. A solemn ratification of the agreement will take place next Monday. The Agreement covers the political obligations of the single candidate [Hancaryk] to the parties, as well as the bilateral obligations of the two leading presidential candidates - Messrs Domas and Hancaryk.
The chairman of the BPF “Adradzennie” Vincuk Viacorka made the following comments on the event: “It is fortunate that the agreement between the two candidates has been signed, initialed by the leaders of the democratic parties which are members of the CCDF. The conclusion of this agreement removes all the obstacles to the active engagement of the BPF in the [single candidate Hancaryk’s] campaign. Hence, one can say that the BPF structures have now made an effective entry into all areas of the campaign: the mobilisation of the public, the monitoring and work with the electoral commissions, the counter-campaign against the regime, and - what is now the most important aspect - the positive campaign on behalf of the single candidate.”