In Vitebsk and Brest representatives of “Narodnaya Gromada” refused to nominate their deputies into the district electoral commissions in protest against the regime’s arbitrary policy.

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In Minsk, where they will elect 55 deputies of the city council, there are constituencies, such as, say, Slobodskaya, where they already registered 12 initiative groups of candidates. And there’s also the Malinovka district with only two such groups. Although the political parties can nominate their candidates under the Electoral code until January 20, one can barely count on serious changes. Nominees from opposition parties, except the Liberal-Democratic one, have already registered their initiative groups and presently operate in concrete constituencies.

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On the New Year eve Charter’97 press-center drew the conclusions of the year 2002. Throughout the year our news updates recorded everything worth attention, which was taking place in our country. One could hardly call political and public life in the country in the past year dull and quiet. Here’s what we got at the end.

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A parcel with documents, necessary for the registration of UCP candidates into the local councils, which was posted to the chairman of the Mogilev regional UCP branch Vladimir Shantsev, turned out 120 grams lighter than it was supposed to be. The cover of the parcel, the inviolability of which is safeguarded by the Constitution, showed the signs of one’s curiosity: the cover was torn and badly duck-taped. Out of the set of documents, sent by the UCP executive committee, there vanished the verified copies of the party’s statute.

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National action of civil insubordination is still underway in Belarus. It was caused by Alexander Lukashenko’s decree of July 25, 2002 #18 “On certain issues of social protection of citizens”, which maintains that individual entrepreneurs are subject to mandatory state social insurance and pay obligatory insurance fines, which constitute no less than 36% of the size of the minimal living budget per capita.

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On January 13, 2002 Alexander Lukashenko issued his decree #16 “On state support of the public association “Belarusian Republic’s Youth Union”. The document envisages financial assistance to the BRYU till the year 2006, as well as contains necessary legal and other measures for “setting up a powerful youth organization in the country, heightening its role in the solution of problems of the state youth policy,” – reports the presidential press-service.

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