Pavel Znavest: Opposition should agree on boycott

Running in the “election” will lead to no good.

Former member of the Belarusian Supreme Council Pavel Znavets said it to Radio Racyja.

– How can we discuss elections, if the authorities have already tightened screws during election campaigns and banned canvassing and holding pickets in cities?

– They say it can be done in special places.

– Yes, you can organise pickets in the places without people. Is this campaigning? The sense of any campaign is to convey your messages to voters. Even during the latest election campaign candidates held pickets near metro stations and in the city centre. Today, we have what we have. If we speak about the democratic character of elections, we are moving back instead of moving forward. I already said that the opposition should adopt a joint statement on refusal to participate the campaign. The statement should be spread using all means possible – from leaflets to the Internet. Unfortunately, my proposal wasn't supported. They decided that young politicians should learn and demonstrate their abilities. Such trainings make people suffer.

– Calls for boycotting are banned officially, aren't they?

– I don't call for a boycott. Every person has to make his own decision. The opposition should have agreed on carrying out an information campaign to explain the situation. They should give facts. People are not fools, they know what to do.

– Do members of “local councils” play a significant role in the country's political life?

– You'd better ask people if they know “people's representatives”. I am a politician, but I don't know the officials I elected. Spokesman for the Central Election Commission Mikalai Lazavik says he doesn't know them either. It's a symptom. Members of local councils don't make decisions. Everything is approved by executive committees. Even Yarmoshyna noted rural councils should be closed, because they only inflict losses. Everyone understands it. So why do we need such councils and such “elections”?

We remind that none “elections” and “referendums” in Belarus have been recognised by international organisations since 1995.