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Liberal Democratic Party holds conference in Minsk

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held a conference in Minsk on August 21, BelaPAN reports.

Opening the event, LDP leader Syarhey Haydukevich distributed awards and badges among well-performing party members.

Collecting his award, prominent comedian Yawhen Kryzhanowski said that he was proud to be a member of the party.

Mr. Haydukevich used the occasion to describe the organization as the country’s strongest political force. “I promise that you will live to see an LDP candidate become president,” he said while addressing some 500 delegates at the conference in the Minsk Tractor Works’ Palace of Culture.

“There are more than 40,000 people in our party as our ideology suits the majority,” Mr. Haydukevich said, adding that his nomination group in the coming presidential elections would consist of 8,000 people.

The politician, who failed to gather more than five percent of the vote in each of the 2001 and 2006 presidential elections according to the official results, was again named as the party’s presidential nominee at a conference in 2008.

Mr. Haydukevich expressed certainty that his nomination group would be able to gather the required 100,000 voter signatures for his registration as a candidate in just one day.

He said that LDP members would be present at each polling station and would conduct exit polls during the vote.

The LDP leader criticized Belarus’ elections as neither free nor fair. “Everyone knows how the elections are conducted in Belarus. Soon no one will be taking part in them and government officials will be electing each other,” he said.  He also launched a verbal attack on opposition forces, claiming that the United Pro-democratic Forces had never existed as a proper coalition. “There will be no single [opposition] candidate. The opposition’s infighting that is taking place now is virtual clownery,” he said.

He asked the delegate to name at least one presidential hopeful representing the opposition coalition.

“The Belarusian Popular Front’s presidential candidate is running [for president] on the Internet. Who is he? Say his name. Name anyone apart from Milinkevich and Ramanchuk,” he told the silent crowd.