Is the opposition in election race?
Some democrats initially said they did not believe that elections could be democratic. But they wanted to use this opportunity and government’s money to take their message out to people. The European Radio for Belarus explores why oppositionists pull out without even having published their election platforms at the cost of the Central Elections Commission.
Stanislau Bagdankevich, the former chairman of Belarus’s Central Bank, admits that he was talked into taking part in this elections by his fellow party members. He says he never planned to run to the end, but can’t pull out quietly, either.
“I have decided to withdraw during the last stage of the campaign. But there are some problems associated with the need to refund the money used for the elections from my own pocket. If you sort this problem out, I will not participate in protest against such illegitimate elections. Therefore, I am not active at the present stage”, says Bagdankevich.
Meanwhile, there is not a single leaflet or Bahdankevich’s portrait in his constituency. The money was used by his trustees without his consent for the needs other than political campaigning.
Stanislau Sudnik, a Popular Front candidate in Lida, prepared his election materials but did not send them for printing. He was still deciding whether to participate in the race or not. He only made two statements on the radio and held two rallies with voters.
“I suspended printing my platform materials due to pressure…or due in line with the decision of the party’s council to withdraw. Everything had been prepared, but I did not print leaflets or portraits, because this money would need to be refunded. Nobody gave me guarantees that the money would be returned. I don’t have my own money to splash on elections”, says Stanislau Sudnik.
It is hard to say now whether Sudnik was preparing his materials or not. Anyway, it does not matter much since voters have not seen them.
Stanislau Sudnik was one of those who signed the so called ‘The Statement of 15’ when Popular Front candidates refused to obey the party’s decision to withdraw their candidatures. Yuras Hubarevich from the same party has already printed his campaign materials. The rest of 13 disobedient fellow party members did the same. Those who decide to stick to the party’s decision to pull out will have to refund the money from their own pockets, according to Viktar Ivashlevich, a deputy chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front.
It appears that Popular Front nominated its candidates only to make them disseminate their programs and nothing else.
Aliaksei Yanukovich, a deputy chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front, acted even more surprisingly. Being a registered candidate, he made no statements on radio or TV and held no meetings with his voters. Reports suggest he went abroad on his own business.
Reflecting on the actions of the opposition, it remains unclear why they decided to take part in this election. Why have they not taken their message out to voters? Did they want to save government’s money?
