Anatol Lyabedzka: Building Not Enough For Arranging Congress :: Charter'97 :: News

Minsk authorities assured Alyaksandr Bukhvostau, the chairman of the steering committee that they would provide premises for holding an oppositional national congress expected to elect a single opposition candidate in the 2006 presidential race. The head of the ideology department of the Minsk City Executive Committee recommended a building of the Palace of Culture of Minsk Automobile Plant. However a pert of opposition activists fear provocations by authorities during the congress.

The leader of the United Civil Party Anatol Lyabedzka believes that it’s not enough to have a building of the Palace of Culture for arranging a congress. It is necessary to demand the Belarusian authorities to fulfill other requirements: to issue visas for foreign guests and journalists, to provide a possibility to appear on TV for organizers of the Congress and to explain the aims and goals of the Congress; to reverse court rulings against organizers of the meetings for nomination of the delegates for the congress, and to give back confiscated informational materials.

“Depending on the answers to these questions, we would see whether it is another populist statement of Lukashenka and authorities or they really want to support realization of the constitutional right of parties, organizations and politically active citizens to hold a political event, a national congress of democratic forces,” Lyabedzka said to Radio Svaboda.

Anatol Lyabedzka believes that only after the answer of the authorities to these requirements the final choice of the place for the congress could be done.