It’s Primeries, Stupid :: Charter'97 :: News

I have read attentively journalist Sergey Kravchuk’s interview with Anatol Lyabedzka, Chairman of the United Civil Party. As far as I understood, if one puts aside malicious Belarusian authorities led by Alyaksandar Lukashenka, things are going perfectly well with our opposition, and in our country in general. Anatol Lyabedzka has scored a landslide victory at parliamentary elections in his constituency, and the most powerful Belarusian oppositional coalition of all times “Five Plus” by a resolute step is moving ahead, towards new victories. Just a little more effort, and the enemy would flee, and the victory would be ours. I must say at once, that I do not share the political optimism of the UCP leader. I am sure that, certainly, sooner or later, Lukashenka’s regime will topple down, but I am in no doubt that if opposition is not going to analyze the situation seriously and make necessary changes inside itself, Lukashenka could win dictator Franco’s laurels and rule for 40 years until an “honourable” discharge. I like the expression ‘Pyrrhic victory’, but these words could be attributed not only to Lukashenka, but to many opposition leaders as well.

Almost a month has passed after the election and ‘referendum’, but the questions, asked by democratic forces’ activists, opposition supporters, many foreign analysts, have not been answered yet. And the questions are the following: Why before the elections the opposition was, if not fragmented, then not quite united? Why the lessons presidential campaign of 2001 and local elections of 2003 have not been learnt? Why again, when people putting at risk their lives are coming into the streets and resort to other decisive actions, majority of ‘opposition leaders’ are doing everything but heading the protest of the people? And finally, why these leaders are not planning protest rallies. We can endlessly say that everything is all right; we could start the presidential primaries campaign of single opposition candidate even now. We could tell as much as we want in the West, that we have all-powerful coalitions and dozens of thousands of activists, but without changing anything and changing ourselves we would not be able to win.

I have criticized the ‘Five Plus’ leaders already for absence of determination after the referendum. But, having read Lyabedzka’s interview, I understand that my criticism was too mild. On almost two pages a person pretending to be the leader of all democratic forces couldn’t find kind words, or any words at all, addressed to those thousands of Belarusians who for eight days, from 18 to 25 of October were coming to the October Square in Minsk, and in some other towns, to express their protest to the fraud organized by the authorities. Journalist Sergey Kravchuk has courteously slipped the topic of Belarusian protests, and Anatol has not brought it up himself either.

It is true that the world community has not recognized the results of October parliamentary elections and referendum. But hadn’t the world seen Belarusian citizens protesting for several days, the Belarusian opposition would have nothing to present, despite of the really great volume of work done in the pre-election campaign.

In these October days in the square in the center of Minsk I could not get rid of the of a dйjа vu feeling. Absolutely in the same way on the night of September 9, 2001 the opposition leaders were not together with the protesters. On that night the young people had occupied the Palace of Trade Unions, and hoisted a huge white-red-white flag. For the 24 hours this building was a symbol of Belarusian resistance, and the single candidate Hancharyk, leaders of the BPF and UCP, Vyachorka and Lyabedzka, were elsewhere.

During the meeting in the October Square on October 18, 2004, a pretty lady from France Press Agency approached me. She asked me “Mister Bandarenka, could you tell me where the opposition leaders are now?” I told her: “They are here: Mikola Statkevich, Dzmitry Barodka, Paval Sevyarynets, Zubr leaders…” But she interrupted me: “No, I mean real leaders – leaders of the parties who held press conference yesterday”. I told that to my mind, “the real opposition leaders” were standing there, on the stairs of the Palace of Republic with the megaphone in their hands. The journalist continued: “No, the party leaders are saying me on mobile phone that they are here, but I cannot see them for some reason…”

“Primaries” are taking place for a long time already. In our conditions it is not some formal procedure. Thousands of eyes are constantly following every step of people who pretend to be political leaders, and even more so of those thinking of contending in the presidential elections. Lukashenka has certainly undermined the perception of this post in the opinion of many people. Many people think that if Lukashenka occupies the position of a president for so many years, they could do the same. After a release of first youth activists who were imprisoned for three days in the Akrestsyn special penitentiary, they read out a statement for the press, only part of which was published. To be precise, only the first part of this statement composed by inmates of one of the cells was released. The text was approximately the following: “We, prisoners of the Akrestsyn detention center, protest against inhuman battering of Anatol Lyabedzka, the United Civil Party leader …” This part was published. However the journalists had not made the continuation public. The Charter’97 press center decided not to release it either. And the continuation was: “… because he had no connection with the protest on October 19. He was just standing by and observing it”.

At that moment out of regard for Anatol’s misfortune, it would have been absolutely inappropriate and insensitive to release this information. I should add that Anatol was not just standing; he started to run away from riot policemen as he did before. You must not run away from them, like from dogs. They just have an instinctive impulse of pursuing a person trying to escape. People laying claims to be national leaders should not run away from riot police in principle. If you want to be called a leader – never run away from riot police and dogs. Because the primaries are taking place. And especially because the similar incident took place during the Chernobyl demonstration. After that riot policemen could say: “Statkevich is a real man. He had organized a rally, and when arrested he got into the car himself, and Lyabedzka, the leader of your opposition, for some reason is running away from us”.

I understand everything, your party could be closed down. It happens so that at some moment one should by no means be imprisoned. Maybe it is really difficult to make an “armchair party” to take to the streets. But it is impossible to remain in the shadow every time during the key events. Simply because the idea of the primaries has been put forward by the United Civil Party.

Frankly speaking, I did not want to speak about it, but I see that a month has passed, and the same old record is being played on: “Our bloc is the strongest one, six parties, 200 NGOs, tens of thousands of activists”. Eight days in the October Square people were standing: Zubr activists, Young Front members, Social Democrats, activists of the European coalition, common citizens. For eight days they were overcoming their fear. When my 17-year-old daughter, a Zubr activist, was preparing to go to the square for the fifth day of the protest, I told her: “Maybe, it’s enough? You have been there for several days, and you had caught it hot from police before”. She looked at me with surprise: “How can I stay home, when my friends and other people would come there?” I saw later that she had to overcome her fear, but she was holding a large European flag in her hands, together with her friends.

Six parties potentially could mean six days of protest in the October Square, and the seventh day could have been organized by those 200 NGOs. So there could have been 15 days of Belarusian protest, not 8. And more people could have participated in them, if the ‘Five Plus’ leaders would do anything for organizing after-referendum rallies, and had not declared on behalf of all opposition to stop the protest.

I want to say that I am not planning to become a presidential candidate. I am not planning to found my own party either, or to join any other party. I do not call to give up on Anatol Lyabedzka or any other presidential candidate. We all know that Anatol Lyabedzka has often demonstrated his courage as a party leader, as organizer or a participant of demonstrations, as a politician. But without learning by our own mistakes elementarily, and without changing anything in ourselves, we cannot move forward. The responsibility is too high.