Opposition seems split ahead of parliamentary polls
The European Radio for Belarus has learned that not only the united opposition is drawing up the lists of candidates for the forthcoming parliamentary polls. Mikalai Statkevich-led “European list” and Haidukevich’s list are almost ready. Statkevich and his supporters feel offended by the united democrats that the latter did not include the issue of European integration for Belarus in their campaign manifestos. That’s why the Belarusian Christian Democrats, the Greens, the Belarusian Social Democratic Hramada and the People’s Hramada have started making their own “European list”.
Statkevich: “We have warned since summer that if the issue of European integration continues to be ignored, we will form the “European list”. We began doing that, as promised, several weeks ago in the regions. These lists have already been drawn up in the Mahilyou and Homel regions. We have just started working in the Hrodna region, as well. In the Mahilyou region we nominated 15 people; 12 in the Homel region; 14 in the Hrodna region”.
The attack of “Europeans” on “Democrats” has not ended just like that. According to Statkevich, part of the “united” candidates decided to obtain a “dual citizenship”. That’s why the “democratic” candidates include the European integration slogans in their program, while Statkevich’s colleagues do not nominate candidates for the occupied constituencies.
Statkevich: “If a candidate vows to promote the European integration of Belarus and take part in the ‘European Belarus’ campaign, we will not propose other candidates of the “European List” in that constituency. I think the European list will look more authoritatively than the so called united list”.
Syarhey Haidukevich, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party proposes his candidates in almost every constituency and does not want to do anything in common with the united democrats.
“Everybody will be pushing around. There will be Lyabedzka’s list. Then, there will be list of people who like Europe more that their Motherland. There will be also others who do not support any of them but will shout that they will win in a given constituency, because their rating is higher. Then, Communists will step in and say that “party, motherland and Kalyakin said that we should be there”. All this will definitely collapse”.
That’s why Liberal Democrats are drawing their own list of 102 candidates and are looking even further to the presidential elections.
Haidukevich: We will propose 102 candidates across the country. 59 names have already been approved by the congress. The rest will be approved by the supreme council. The congress has also approved the candidature of Haidukevich as a presidential candidate.
The Liberal Democrats plan to form their own faction in the parliament.
Belaya Rus public association, the favorite in the future parliamentary campaign, formally cannot take part in the elections. But the members of Belaya Rus which includes a lot of officials, factory directors and school headmasters, can be nominated from their working collectives. According to Viktar Huminski, a deputy chairman of Belaya Rus, they will support “their” candidates by all possible means.
Huminski: Belaya Rus is not a political party. It is a public association, so it cannot nominate its candidates as a party. That’s why there will be individual independent candidates. We will be supporting them as a public association”.
According to Huminski, there will be at least 100 people across the country who will run independently but enjoy support of the association. The European Radio for Belarus has also learned that Belaya Rus is in strategic talks with BRSM to divide constituencies and support each other.
Huminski says Belaya Rus has not yet drawn up any single list.
“We have not divided anything yet, because we don’t know the constituencies yet. We will solve this issue right after the president’s decree (to set the date of the polls)”, Huminski said.
He would not rule out that their organization would have their own group in the parliament.
“It will not be faction bur a group of deputies that can be formed under the regulation”.
