English

Movement for Freedom and "Tell the Truth!" movement set to cooperate

 

The joint celebration of the 150th anniversary of the 1863-64 anti-Russian uprising by the Movement for Freedom and the "Tell the Truth!" movement may become a foundation for joint political campaigns, Alyaksandr Milinkevich, chairman of the Movement for Freedom, told reporters in Minsk on Friday.

The forthcoming anniversary is an opportunity for cooperation among opposition parties and NGOs, which should engage in specific activities, he said.

Mr. Milinkevich stressed that the Movement for Freedom and the "Tell the Truth!" movement had much in common, including their commitment to independence, democracy, the Belarusian language and culture and "truthful history."

He expressed confidence that cooperation between the two organizations would not be limited to the celebration of the anniversary of the 1863-64 uprising led by Kastus Kalinowski.

"We would like to have closer cooperation," Mr. Milinkevich said. "And we should look for things we have in common and things we can do and achieve together."

Uladzimir Nyaklyayew, chairman of the "Tell the Truth!" movement, noted that the two groups have similar platforms for September's House of Representatives elections.

"The Movement for Freedom has 'People's Program,' and we have 'Civil Agreement,'" Mr. Nyaklyayew said. "Joint work within the framework of these projects is much more efficient than individual efforts."

According to Mr. Nyaklyayew, the "Tell the Truth!" movement does not nominate any candidates but simply supports "regional leaders" during election campaigns.

"Most of those who support the 'Tell the Truth!' movement are not its activists," he said. "We found those people or they found us during local campaigns in, for instance, Smalyavichy, Barysaw and Svetlahorsk, that is, everywhere we have local chapters. After I suggested non- participation in the elections, local chapters, which knew the situation in the provinces better than I do, were the ones who warned us that non-participation and a boycott would be a mistake. Real people who live in towns and villages wait for some force to appear that would try to derail the authorities' standard scenario." //BelaPAN