After the farce of the "elections" of September 9 2001, on the basis of which Lukashenka proclaimed himself the head of the Belarusian state for the next five years, the threat to the independence of our country has become more acute. Continuing to surrender Belarusian sovereignty (already reduced to a mere bagatelle by the coup d'etat of 1996) - is Lukashenka's only way to repay Russian political circles for their support to him during the elections.

The surrender of independence is now taking a practical shape. The [Russian] State Duma has passed in the first reading the draft of the law "On the Elections of Deputies of the Chamber of Representatives of the Parliament of the Union State" [of Belarus and Russia], put to it by Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile Lukashenka is proposing to Kremlin his version of the draft "Constitutional Act of the Union State".

As of today, not one union treaty of Russia and Belarus, nor any institution of the so-called "Union State", has been signed or legitimised, from the Belarus side, by any legitimate bodies of power and government. The conduct of the so-called "elections to the parliament of the Union State", especially if Belarusian democratic forces were to participate in it, entails the threat of international legitimisation of the  "Union" creation, which so far no one has recognised.  The so-called "Union" will do nothing to help democratise Belarusian political life; on the contrary, it will simply provide additional legitimation for the anti-democratic system, and so strengthen it. As far as Belarus is concerned, they are preparing  for it the fate of a Russia’s backwaters.

The Party of BPF puts the highest value on the independent Belarusian state the greatest value and stands for the return of Belarus to the arena of European politics and civilisation. We view the possibility that a  "parliament of  the Union State" [with Russia] will actually be created by means of direct "elections" [in Belarus] as a  real threat to Belarus's sovereignty and to our prospects in Europe.

The BPF Congress:

• charges the leadership of the Party of BPF to open consultations with other democratic political and civic forces of the country, in order to reach a consensus on resisting the creation of a "parliament of the union state", and on non-participation in possible elections to it.
• calls on the members of Belarusian structures of government, lawyers, economists, entrepreneurs,  and Belarusian society in general, not to support in principle  the "union" pacts (which are unequal and crushing for Belarus) with the Russian Federation, and not to support in particular the creation of a "union parliament";
• appeals to responsible political forces in Russia urging them most vehemently to think of the negative consequences of incorporating Lukashenka's regime into the Russian [internal] political field, and to stand up together against the possible elections to the "union parliament", which would strengthen the most retrograde, leftist, and imperialist political forces in Russia;
• appeals to the parliaments of democratic countries of the world and to international institutions, not to recognise either any elections and referendums that limit or destroy the sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus, or any pseudo-parliamentary structures created as an outcome of the former, since - in the absence of democratic conditions - our nation is deprived of any possibility freely to express via elections its will  regarding issues touching the fate of the country.

During the presidential campaign in the Republic of Belarus, the authorities brutally violated the electoral legislation, by, inter alia, persecuting activists of the campaign. The members of the BPF "Adradzennie" took part in the electoral campaign at every stage and constituted the main and most active part of the campaign's activists. For that reason, the main weight of repressions fell on members of our organisation.

These included the taking into custody of BPF "Adradzennie" activists involved in the collection of signatures [for nominations] and in campaigning for the democratic candidate, those who worked to mobilise voters, and those who participated in monitoring. The regime’s illegal acts included:

• arrests and detaining in custody (e.g. of deputy chairmen of the BPF: Ales Bialacki, Paval Sieviaryniec, Anatol Fiodarau; of members of the Sojm [BPF's policy-making council]: Anatol Loban, Anatol Askierka, Alaksiej Sydlouski, Alaksiej Kolcyn; and others);
• interrogations by the KGB (e.g. members of Sojm Siarhiej Malcyk, Alaksiej Sein, Uladzimir Labkovic and others), interrogation by the Prosecution service (hundreds of members of the BPF "Adradzennie");
• illegal searches (Viktar Ramaniska, a member of BPF Sojm).

Punitive measures in the form of fines and arrests were applied against members of the BPF "Adradzennie", baseless court sentences were passed, criminal cases opened (Viktar Ivaskievic, deputy chairman of the BPF; Siarhiej Michnou, secretary of the BPF Uprava [- BPF's executive council]).

The authorities carried out destructive raids on BPF offices, which resembled bandit attacks. Hence, shortly before the elections, there were attacks and searches of BPF offices in Hrodna, Mahileu, Svietlahorsk. Hundreds of BPF members suffered for their honest and self-sacrificing participation in the electoral campaign, were sentenced and/or dismissed from their jobs (e.g. Andrej Alachnovic, the chair of the local BPF organisation of the Krupski district; Ryhor Kostusieu, chair of the local BPF organisation of the Sklouski district, a member of the Sojm; members of the BPF "Adradzennie": Sciapan Korzun (from Asmiany), Alaksandar Samojla (from Hrodna); Lubou Jafimava (from Hudahaj); Vital Vajnau (from Astraviec), Siarhiej Stroma (from Iuje), and others.)

On the basis of the aforesaid, we declare that the presidential elections cannot be recognised as open and free. The electoral campaign took place under conditions of repression, acts of intimidation,  a fear-laden atmosphere  in  society, and mass falsifications. Elections conducted under such conditions cannot be recognised as democratic, neither can their outcome be deemed  valid.

Taking into account the baseless nature of the charges brought against BPF activists and the illegality of their prosecution, we demand:

• the annulling of the sentences in all the administrative and criminal cases opened against BPF "Adradzennie" activists in connection with their participation in the electoral campaign;
• the reinstatement in their place of work or study of all BPF members dismissed and expelled on political grounds;
• changes in the electoral law to ensure democratic and transparent nature of all the stages of an electoral campaign.

After its IV Congress (1999), the Party of BPF abandoned the policies of self-isolation and began making efforts to unite all democratic forces in the struggle against the authoritarian regime.

The Party of BPF joined the Consultative Council of opposition political parties (CCOPP), established to open negotiations with the authorities in power regarding the fulfilment of Four Conditions (the creation of a political atmosphere of trust; freedom for mass media; a democratic electoral law; power-endowed parliament). Fulfilment of these conditions would open a way back for Belarus into the community of civilised countries. However, the regime turned down the chance of getting out of the situation of international isolation, which had resulted in the international non-recognition of the parliamentary and presidential elections in Belarus. CCOPP should continue its activity, as a common advisory body of the country’s political forces, which are demanding the fulfilment of the four conditions.

We have re-activated our active participation in the Co-ordinating Council of Democratic Forces (CCDF) at the national level. The Congress of democratic forces was a decisive event of the year 2000, and in accordance with its the decisions the elections to the "Chamber of Representatives" were boycotted by all the democratic parties. The Party of BPF also took an active part in preparing and conducting the All-Belarusian congress "For Independence", and the Congress of democratic forces of 2001.

BPF's local structures made a considerable contribution to the cause of uniting democratic organisations at their levels. Thanks to this, the boycott of the elections to the Chamber of Representatives in the autumn 2000 was successfully carried out. The fruits of this consolidating work became apparent during the collection of signatures for the nomination of the presidential candidate, when it was precisely the candidature supported by regional democratic coalitions who gained  the most signatures.

The presidential campaign of 2001 became a test for the co-operation of democratic forces. Initially, a high degree of consolidation was achieved. However, nominating non-party candidatures without securing a mechanism of influencing their political behaviour was risky. The CCDF lost the political initiative. The behaviour of the candidates, without any sense of responsibility to their nominators became the main reason for the late nomination of a single candidate and the non-deployment of the protest potential of  society. However, despite the huge advantage of the dictatorship over the democratic coalition as regards force and human resources, and  the external support of Lukashenka by Russia, the said democratic coalition was able to oppose the regime and prevent its legitimisation through the elections.

Experience reveals the need to improve the policy of the Party of BPF as regards  the consolidation of democratic forces. Only those coalitions that unite the real entities of political life, which have concrete goals and are based on clearly formulated principles, have demonstrated their effectiveness. We need to unite only with those organisations that share the ideals of Belarus’s independence, democracy, and human rights, and which are prepared to act in the framework of a coalition by agreed rules, and not turn the principle of consensus into a weapon of blackmail and the destruction of co-operation.

The Congress charges the leadership of the Party of BPF to formulate the principles of coalition-building of democratic forces, discuss those [principles] with the CCDF constituent parties and organisations, in order to restore the activity if that structure in the view of such coming challenges to the democratic forces of Belarus as the local elections, the possible elections to a "union parliament", and a constitutional referendum. Non-violent opposition to the anti-democratic regime demands the unity of democratic pro-independence forces, towards which the Party of BPF consistently strives.

The BPF has always stood for the implementation of large-scale market reforms, of which the privatisation of industry is an integral part. BPF does not distinguish between good and bad investors on the grounds of nationality. We shall welcome any investments to the economy of Belarus, which contribute to the emergence of modern technologies, new jobs, modern management, the inclusion of Belarus economy to the world market, and which do not imply their monopoly domination of Belarus market, which would be a threat to national security.

However, we stand for the imperative creation of democratic conditions for privatisation:

1. Publicity [=i.e. openness to public, transparency]. Any investor, any employee of an enterprise being privatised, any mass media representative ëmust have access to complete information about the said enterprise, the mechanism of its privatisation,  and the investors who aspire to take part in its privatisation.
2. Competitive basis. In a privatisation Belarusian and foreign investors must be able to participate on equal terms.
3. Complex solutions. Privatisation must take place in a package with other reforms: de-monopolisation and the development of competition, the reestablishment of a healthy financial and credit  system, the reform of the taxation system, etc.

Without a systemic approach and the fulfilment of the conditions listed above, a mafia-type privatisation could become a strong destabilising factor of the social and political life in the country. The BPF is worried by the prospect that a secret cabal could hand over control of the majority of  viable Belarusian enterprises to the hands of Russian oligarchs.

The Congress: