Statement of United Civic Party

Statement of United Civic Party

On 27 February, in two days before the end of the electoral campaign the leaders of Minsk UCP list Siarhei Alfer, Sviatlana Karaliova and Yawhen Labanovich were excluded from candidates to deputy positions of Minsk City Deputy Soviet.

Polls showed that from 60 to 65% electors wanted to vote for the UCP Political Council members S. Alfer, S. Karaliova and Ya. Labanovich. Such level of support would have meant victory in the first voting. The authorities ordered to their “political killers”, electoral commissions, to exclude the disloyal candidates from the electoral race.

So, they cynically stole from the UCP three mandates in Minsk City Deputy Soviet and deprived electors of three circuits of the right to choose. They wanted to spit on the UCP, but appeared to spit on ordinary people, Belarusian citizens. Now regime tramples the last illusions and hopes, faith in honesty and justice.

This electoral campaign is the gray book with thousands cases of juridical lawlessness. However, it showed that even the strong administrative resource, the authorities can’t resist to democratic reformers in big cities. Exclusion of the UCP candidates witnesses the regime’s impotence and fear of inevitable changes.

Minsk,
28 February 2003