Bahdankevich: We wanted to save Ramanchuk for the party!

Jaraslau Ramanchuk had a choice. If he decided to leave the position of a UCP Vice-Chairman and to apologize to Statkevich, Sannikau and Rymasheuski for his "unfounded accusations" declared on December 20 on the Belarusian television, he would have kept his membership in the party. The Honourable Chairman of the United Civic Party Stanislau Bahdankevich has informed this on air to Euroradio:

"We wanted to save him [Ramanchuk - ERB] for the party. We wanted him to admit that he had made a mistake under a psychological pressure of the authorities, and made this statement. We wanted him to apologize to his colleagues in the struggle for democracy, for reinstatement of the constitutional legacy in our country. We wanted him to apologize to these people and thus to keep his face, to the extent which was possible then.

We suggested he should resign voluntarily, thus saving himself for the party as an expert, as an economist etc. However, he did not listen to us, so we were forced to vote. He probably hoped to get support of a certain part of the committee, but he didn't get any. The no-confidence note to Jaraslau Ramanchuk as a Vice-Chairman of the United Civic Party was pronounced by a single vote".

Thus, Jaraslau Ramanchuk will not fulfill the obligations of a Vice-Chairman of the UCP de facto due to the no-confidence note pronounced against him. However, de juro he will be considered a UCP member at least until the next party congress.

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