Going all the way
- 12.09.2008, 14:28
Leaders of a number of oppositional parties and Alyaksandr Milinkevich’s movement have stated at a press-conference in Minsk that the “election” planned for September 28, won’t be free and democratic, and called upon the international community not to recognize its results. Most of the press conference participants believe they should go all the way in this process.
One of the leaders of Alyaksandr Milinkevich’s movement, Viktar Karneenka, has stated that the United Democratic Forces won’t boycott the “parliamentary elections”. The decision to boycott the “elections” has been adopted on September 10 by the presidium of the UDF Political Council and should be approved on September 21 by the Political Council.
As the participants of the press-conference said, in order to observe the votes count and record possible facts of rigging results, during the voting the UDF would concentrate attention on those constituencies where they have “strong and competitive candidates for deputies with teams that are ready to show that the “election” was falsified”.
“We state that we won’t ever recognize this “electoral campaign” as just and legitimate. We will state that not only at the Political Council on September 21, but we will offer to confirm that by personal signatures of any candidate for deputy from the single list of the UDF, in order to exclude any speculations like: “This is my personal position, and that one is a political position”. It is possible it could be connected with the fact that some could become members of the “chamber of representatives”.
At the final stage of the “electoral campaign” we concentrate our efforts on receiving access to votes count and offer facts of “election campaign” falsifications. Understanding that our resources are limited we would concentrate attention on those constituencies where we have strong and competitive candidates for deputies with teams that can fulfill this function. We won’t scatter our efforts over the entire territory of Belarus. We will concentrate on these constituencies only. That’s what we have discussed and approved. As for the rest, you can fantasize yourselves,” told the leader of the United Civil party Anatol Lyabedzka.
The leader of the Party of Belarusian Communists Syarhei Kalyakin informed that next week party leaders are set to meet with Ambassadors of the EU countries.
“First I was against holding the press-conference so quickly, and informing about agreements we have reached, as I believed that everything is going its natural course. But having read what is written on the web, I understood that the distinct position of the UDF should be voiced. I imagine what international observers and European ambassadors feel when they read on the internet what is written there. The end is stated there: the UDF have been buried, everything has collapsed, a fire, a catastrophe, and it’s hard to understand anything at all. In this connection we have reached another agreement in principle with the Ambassador of France which is presiding in the EU. On Tuesday a meeting of the UDF leadership with European Ambassadors would take place, as we see what they in their heads after receiving news from mass media,” Kalyakin said.
At today’s press-conference the leader of the Belarusian Popular Front party Lyavon Barshcheuski confirmed that the decision of the party’s Sojm (Council) to withdraw candidates remains in force, and they think they should withdraw from the “elections”. As we have informed, on August 30 the Sojm of the BPF party decided to withdraw party candidates from the “parliamentary elections” before September 23 because of large-scale violations of the Electoral Code by the regime and no chances for holding free elections in the country. before withdrawing the candidates are recommended to use opportunities of the agitation campaign to explain voters why the party refuses to take part in this “election”.