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Organizing committee formed for new opposition party

More than 100 people joined an organizing committee for a new opposition party at a meeting in Minsk on February 11.

The organizing committee consists mostly of the people who quit the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) earlier this month in protest against the party leadership’s policy. These include prominent figures, such as former BPF Chairman Vintsuk Vyachorka, Yury Khadyka and Valyantsina Svyatskaya.

The organizing committee also includes Viktar Ivashkevich, chairman of the BPF Minsk city chapter.

As Mr. Ivashkevich told BelaPAN, the decision to establish the new party was prompted by BPF presidential nominee Ryhor Kastusyow’s actions during the election campaign. In particular, he said, Mr. Kastusyow used his television appearance to criticize fellow opposition candidates rather than Alyaksandr Lukashenka and gave an interview to Belarusian Television that “discredited” Mr. Lukashenka’s rivals when nearly all of them had already been arrested following the December 19 post-election street protest.

In addition, Mr. Kastusyow later lauded Mr. Lukashenka for taking steps in line with the Belarusian Popular Front’s program.

Furthermore, Mr. Ivashkevich said, Mr. Kastusyow did not join other opposition leaders in calling for international sanctions against Mr. Lukashenka and top government officials.

According to Mr. Ivashkevich, the people who quit the BPF felt “ashamed of being members of a party that nominated such a candidate for president.”

The politician stressed that the new party would prioritize efforts to secure the release detained government opponents, a free and fair presidential election without Mr. Lukashenka on the ballot, as well the toughest possible sanctions against top government officials.

Mr. Ivashkevich was a campaign aide of former Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Sannikaw in December’s presidential election. //BelaPAN