BELARUS: Belarus opposition select single candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, to challenge President Lukashenko

Record ID: 858626

  • Title: BELARUS: Belarus opposition select single candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, to challenge President Lukashenko
  • Date: 4th October 2005
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Russia) OPPOSITION POLITICIAN ALEXANDER MILINKEVICH, ELECTED TO BE A SINGLE OPPOSITION CHALLENGER IN 2006 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, SAYING: "For me it is much easier to communicate with my opposition rivals, than with those in power."
  • Embargoed: 19th October 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belarus
  • City:
  • Country: Belarus
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVADL76E66VWMZ55K7POYKVJ4M1X
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Opposition parties in Belarus joined forces on Sunday (October 2) to back a single challenger to President Alexander Lukashenko's expected bid for a new term next year. Alexander Milinkevich, 59, an independent who oversaw the opposition campaign against Lukashenko in the last presidential election, won 399 votes at a "Congress of Democratic Forces". Only eight votes behind was veteran opposition figure Anatoly Lebedko of the United Civic Party. Activists at the two-day congress said fielding a single candidate was critical to kindling any hope of rallying Belarussians who oppose Lukashenko's tough policies but are demoralised by systematic police action against public dissent. Western countries say Lukashenko, in power since 1994, hounds opponents, muzzles the media, clings to communist-era economics and routinely resorts to vote-rigging -- including in 2001, when he last won re-election. They dismiss as rigged a referendum last year that allowed him to change the constitution and run again in October 2006. Genuinely popular, especially in the countryside, Lukashenko rejects the charges and accuses rivals of wanting to "blockade" Belarus. He says he has shielded his 10 million people from uncertainty and vows to cut short any bid at upheaval like last year's "Orange Revolution" in adjacent ex-Soviet Ukraine. The liberal and nationalist opposition wields limited influence. State media scarcely report its activities and there is little of the national sentiment that fuelled protests that helped unseat governments in Ukraine, Georgia or Kyrgyzstan. Opposition parties in 2001 tried to back trade unionist Vladimir Goncharik as the sole challenger, but others also ran. Goncharik scored 15 percent to 70 for the president. Polls give no more than five percent to any one opposition figure, but one-third of respondents say they would back any liberal candidate running alone against Lukashenko. Speakers at the congress described next year's election as a "last chance" to guard against further crackdowns. Milinkevich said taking on and defeating Lukashenko was tantamount to "going to war", "because this will in fact be a war". Lebedko and another defeated candidate agreed to abide by the decision to back a single challenger. But commentators said choosing an independent might not have been the best option for an opposition hard pressed to organise its ranks. "Lebedko looked better prepared and must be a better bet in terms of resources, work capability and recognition in Belarus and outside," said Leonid Zaiko of the Strategia think tank. "He was ready to go into the election with the intention of winning and had a party and its structures to back him up."
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