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Kastusyow attacks fellow opposition candidates in December’s presidential election

Ryhor Kastusyow, deputy chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), on Saturday hit out at fellow opposition candidates in December’s presidential election.

Speaking at a convention of the BPF regional chapter in Homyel, Mr. Kastusyow complained that he had seen more dirty tricks and lies from other opposition presidential candidates than from the authorities in the campaign, BelaPAN said.

In particular, the 53-year-old said that he had been targeted by blackmail on the part of some fellow candidates.

In addition, he said, prominent BPF members Vintsuk Vyachorka and Yury Khadyka offered him to pull out of the race in exchange for their support for his candidacy during the next election for BPF chairman. “The conversation took place on the eve of the registration of presidential candidates,” he said.

The politician also announced that one of his rivals in the election had offered him $100,000 in return for withdrawing from the election. He said that the offer had been made in the absence of any witnesses. “Interestingly, KGB officers who spoke to me after my arrest referred to this figure and said that they respected me for not taking the money,” he said. “I’m not giving myself credit for this respect from such an organization.”

Mr. Kastusyow also attacked the pro-opposition newspaper Narodnaya Volya for an alleged smear campaign ahead of the election.

He stressed that Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s presidential rivals had agreed that the post-election street protest would be peaceful and there would be no march toward Independence Square. “It’s hard for me to say why people went there. At least I had to go there because the people could not be stopped. There’s information who decided to change the joint decision, but I wouldn’t say so far who this was, as many are in jail and I have no moral right,” Mr. Kastusyow said.

Unlike former presidential candidates Andrey Sannikaw, Ales Mikhalevich, Uladzimir Nyaklyayew, Vital Rymashewski, and Mikalay Statkevich, Mr. Kastusyow was not jailed or charged after the December 19 demonstration, although he attended the event and was briefly detained afterward.

Earlier this year, a group of prominent BPF members announced their decision to quit the party, not least because of Kastusyow’s nomination for president and his conduct during the presidential campaign.

In particular, Viktar Ivashkevich, chairman of the Minsk city chapter of the BPF, attacked Mr. Kastusyow for criticizing other opposition politicians instead of criticizing Mr. Lukashenka’s regime and praising the Belarusian leader for allegedly implementing some of the provisions of the BPF’s platform.