Authorities Discredit “Accord on Unique Candidate” :: Charter'97 :: News

The Ministry of Justice of Belarus hastened to release a statement in which it refers to the intentions of candidates, representing wide public coalition, during the period before and after the presidential elections as “contradicting the Constitution”.

The Ministry of Justice declared that only Lukashenko is a true guarantor of Constitution and only he can “appoint elections and referenda and dissolve chambers”. In other words, the candidates have nothing to do with that. The Ministry concludes that the “accord’s position” on the candidates’ common platform, including the implementation of democratic parliamentary elections on the mixed proportionate majority system, dismantling of the “national assembly” and the election of a new parliament, as well as dismissing the old government and the appointment of another one is “totally contradicting the Constitution of Belarus”.

The authorities add a “convincing” argument to their statement – the accord has been drawn on behalf of unregistered public associations “For new Belarus”, “Regional Belarus” and “Charter’97”. Somehow they seem to have forgotten about dozens registered political parties and almost a hundred youth organizations of Belarus – signatories to the agreement “On mutual commitments of the unique candidate and wide public coalition over the period ahead of and after the presidential elections.”