English

United Civic Party holds convention

The opposition United Civic Party (UCP) held its 13th convention at the Palace of Culture of the Minsk Tractor Works on Sunday, BelaPAN said.

Participants voted 66 to 37 with five abstentions for the party to withdraw from the 2010 local elections campaign.

However, this political decision of the party would not mean that the UCP would withdraw its members from election commissions and the UCP representatives among contenders for local soviets would withdraw from the race, UCP Deputy Chairman Lew Marholin said before the vote.

It is up to the contenders to decide whether or not to pull out, Mr. Marholin said.

The convention called on political parties and non-governmental organizations to join the UCP in withdrawing from the election process.

Long before the beginning of the local elections campaign, the UCP put forward its demands for elections to be viewed as free and fair, but those demands were ignored by the authorities and the party should withdraw as an organization, as it should be consistent in its steps, said UCP Chairman Anatol Lyabedzka.

At the same time, the party should not “do harm” to the UCP contenders, especially those who sought registration as candidates though the collection of ballot-access signatures and are “ready to see it through to the end, feeling the support of people,” Mr. Lyabedzka said.

The convention reelected Mr. Lyabedzka chairman of the UCP. Apart from Mr. Lyabedzka, Viktar Harbachow was nominated for the post, but he refused to accept his nomination, explaining that he did not have enough strength and spirit to lead the party.

Out of 112 delegates present at the meeting, 109 took part in the vote, with 89 of them voting to reelect Mr. Lyabedzka and 17 voting against his reelection.

“I realize that I am not the leader of a political party in the sense that it is viewed in civilized countries,” said Mr. Lyabedzka who has been chairman of the UCP since 2000. “I rather have to perform the functions of an anti-crisis manager. And I know better than any other the extremely complicated system o the United Civic Party.”