Democrats nominate candidates using old nomenclatural methods?
Ales Mikhalevich, a deputy chairman of the Party of the Belarusian Popular Front, described this distribution of constituencies by the political council of the pro-democracy forces as a “nomenclatural way of solving the issue” referring to the Soviet times.
“The decision that other candidates from the opposition parties withdraw their candidatures for the sake of the party leadership is proof of their desire to create privileges for themselves. They were automatically approved as single candidates, using the nomenclatural methods”, he said.
The politician’s criticism is pointed at Anatol Lyaukovich, Syarhey Kalyakin, Vintsuk Vyachorka and Anatol Lyabedzka who are co-chairmen of the United Democratic Forces (UDF). Mikhalevich did not refuse from criticizing the decision of the political council even under the threat of being excluded from the Belarusian Popular Front. In an earlier development, Lyavon Barscheuski, the chairman of the Party of the Belarusian Popular Front said in a statement that party members would face eviction for criticism against the party’s leadership. Mikhalevich allowed himself to state that Vintsuk Vyachorka (another party deputy chairman) had made a mistake by having agreed to this distribution of constituencies.
“In my view, it was Vyachorka’s mistake to agree to this system. All the candidates, including the party leaders, should be approved through an open competition. If we copycat the behavior of the authorities, we will never win in this country”, Mikhalevich said.
The European Radio for Belarus has learned that Mikhalevich, too will run in Minsk, not in the town of Maryina Horka as previously. Pavel Zdanyuk, a candidate from the United Civic Party, also competed for the same constituency, but withdrew himself for the sake of Mikhalevich after the request of the political council. Mikhalevich does not describe this move by his colleague as a nomenclatural decision.
“Pavel admitted that I had a stronger team at the moment. Apart from nominating candidates, it is very important to have a professional and active team”, Mikhalevich explains.
According to Anatol Lyabedzka, the leader of the United Civic Party, four or five people competed for the status of a candidate for constituencies in Minsk. The council of the city coalition (of opposition parties) took decisions who should stay in the list and who should withdraw their candidatures. During the coalition meeting, Zdanyuk was asked not to interfere with Mikhalevich in Minsk. However, Lyabedzka admitted that UDF leaders had more chances than ordinary party members in order to get on the list.
“Definitely, the leaders of the political parties enjoyed certain preferences. When the United Civic Party nominates 15 names for constituencies in Minsk, the leaders have a priority. But this is not a privilege. Rather, it is an internal potential of a person which emerges from the post he occupies”, Lyabedzka said.
In the view of the politician, if Milinkevich or Statkevich decide to join the coalition, the United Civic Party will even withdraw some of their 5 Minsk-based candidates in favor of the two politicians. Lyabedzka would not reveal who withdrew in his favor. However, he knows that an independent candidate will compete with him during the campaign.
Anatol Lyaukovich, the acting chairman of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party “Hramada” could hardly recall the name of Mikhalevich and described the latter’s statement as stupidity. For many years, he has run in a constituency in Brest. He will do it again this year. He says people there know him very well. He doesn’t need any privileges and doesn’t fear any competition.
“I have run campaigns for dozens of years. I deploy up to 40 people as my campaign staff. I am simply very well known person there”, Lyaukovich says.
The European Radio for Belarus approached Andrei Klimov, a member of the 13th Supreme Council, to ask if he planned to become a deputy again. The former political prisoner who recently saw his conviction cleared by the pardon says he doesn’t want to have anything in common with the House of Representatives. If he agrees to run, it will mean that he recognizes this house as a legitimate parliament. The point is that he does not recognize the current regime as legitimate.
Lyavon Barscheuski told the European Radio for Belarus that Ales Mikhalevich’s behavior would be reviewed by the part disciplinary committee. He would not elaborate what would happen if Mikhalkevich’s actions would be found controversial. At the same time, he described Mikhalevich’s criticism as his private point of view.
