Profile of Belarusian opposition presidential hopeful Milinkevich :: Charter'97 :: News

Alyaksandr Milinkevich is the main challenger to incumbent Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in the 19 March 2006 election. Milinkevich is hoping to rally opposition to Lukashenka and to win the support of middle-of-the-road voters in a bid to end what US President George Bush has described as "the last dictatorship in Europe".

Milinkevich enjoys the backing of all major Belarusian opposition parties, which nominated him as the "single candidate representing Belarusian pro-democracy forces" during a congress in Minsk on 1-2 October 2005. Milinkevich won the single candidate status in a stiff competition with several leaders of opposition parties, who later agreed to man and run his election headquarters.

Milinkevich is a physicist, NGO activist and Belarusian culture enthusiast.

An intellectual rather than a politician, Milinkevich is meant to reach out to the broader population beyond the traditional opposition electorate. He is expected to appeal to the less active voters who tend to distrust political parties and normally would not vote for familiar opposition leaders, but who are tired of Belarus`s isolation and Lukashenka`s rule.

He was born on 25 July 1947 in Hrodna, western Belarus, into a teacher`s family. His ancestors took part in the 1863 nationalist uprising led by Kastus Kalinowski and were repressed by the Russian tsarist authorities. His grandfather was an activist of the Belarusian nationalist movement in the 1920s.

Milinkevich holds a PhD in physics and mathematics. He worked at the Physics Institute of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences and the University of Hrodna. As a scientist, he took part in exchange programmes with leading French and US universities and headed a chair at an Algerian university in the 1980s.

He also has experience as a civil servant as he served as deputy head of the Hrodna city government for culture, education and international affairs in 1990-96.

As an NGO leader, Milinkevich took the brunt of a government clampdown on civil society after the authorities in 2003 closed down the Ratusha (Town Hall) resource centre, which he had headed since 1996.

Milinkevich, who is not affiliated with any political force but is close to the Belarusian People`s Front (BPF-Revival Party), is also backed by the United Civic Party, the Belarusian Social Democratic Hramada, the Belarusian Women`s Party "Hope", the Party of Communists of Belarus, the Belarusian Environmental Party of the Greens and by several dozen nongovernmental organizations.

According to Radio Liberty, "his nonpartisanship gives him a certain edge over other opposition politicians in what seems to be the uphill task of maintaining the unity of the cantankerous Belarusian opposition until the 2006 election".

In an interview with the Belapan news agency on 1 January, Milinkevich said his aim is to build a new democratic Belarus: "Our main task is not only to familiarize people with the pro-democracy candidate, but also to provide them with information and prove to them that we are a majority, the truth is on our side and we have the right to live in a new Belarus and we will live in it."

In numerous interviews, Milinkevich has expressed doubt that the authorities will allow a free and fair poll. He said he will call on Belarusians to take to the streets to protest against vote-rigging, stressing that this will be a peaceful civil disobedience campaign.

Generally perceived as a pro-Western politician, Milinkevich states his adherence to European democratic values and market reforms. His election manifesto says that Milinkevich sees Belarus as "a just, responsible, free, independent and prosperous country which is ruled by the law but not by one individual". His economic programme provides for liberal economic reforms, a lower tax burden, better conditions for investors and higher social benefits for vulnerable group.

In a bid to dispel Russian fears of a U-turn in Belarusian foreign policy if he wins, Milinkevich tries to reassure Moscow that Belarus will retain its neutrality, will not join NATO, will not evict Russian military bases and will not pull out of the CIS, the Collective Security Treaty Organization or the Eurasian Economic Community. He acknowledges that he sees EU membership as a "distant prospect" for his country.

Milinkevich has been touring the country quite a lot in an effort to make himself known to the country and has apparently succeeded. On 28 December, the Belapan news agency quoted a Gallup survey conducted in early December as showing that his popularity rating was 18.1 per cent, rising virtually from zero in a short time. The surprise decision of the Belarusian authorities on 16 December to bring the election date forward to mid-March from the originally planned summer is often interpreted as Lukashenka`s apprehension about the fast pace at which Milinkevich is becoming popular.

Milinkevich speaks five languages: Russian, Belarusian, English, French and Polish. He is married for the second time and has two sons from his first marriage. Basketball is one of his hobbies.