THE PEOPLE’S POLL IS A CHANCE OF THE VICTORY (the release for the foreign communities and mass media)
The authoritarian pro-Moscow regime has formed in Belarus the state system of the electoral frauds. The regime is completely controlling all the electoral commissions. All the chiefs of these commissions are in absolute dependence on the authorities (the regime forms the staff of the commissions). The persons minded to support the opposition were not included into the electoral commissions. 2004 the system of the electoral frauds has demonstrated its totalitarian character on the elections and illegal referendum: the commissions even did not count the votes; the chiefs of the commissions did sign the protocols written by the authorities in advance and confirm the regime’s frauds.
In these circumstances the alternative minded candidates cannot participate in the poll, it would be senseless. The participation only promotes the illusion of the “democratic elections” and practically promotes the regime. The situation seems to reach a deadlock.
We, the Belarusan Popular Front and the Conservative Christian Party – BPF, have formed the initiative “The Belarusan Solidarity” and proposed the method of the People’s Poll which permits to blockade the system of the electoral frauds. The People’s Poll is based on the Constitution of Belarus and the Low.
The technology of the method is the following: the elector takes the regime’s voting-paper in the electoral station, sign the list of electors and goes into the polling cabin. Inside the voting cabin the elector put the regime’s voting-paper into her/his pocket. Then the elector cast her/his People’s voting-paper (where she/he had written the name of her/his candidate or hadn’t written anything) into the ballot-box.
After the poll the elector gives the official voting-paper up to the People’s Civic Commission (PCC) which will count the voting-papers and record the results of the poll. All these activities are completely based on the Law.
As a result the People’s voting-paper will be registered by the electoral commission as non valid. But the elector will have the documental confirmation of her/his alternative People’s Poll – the official voting-paper with a seal and signatures of the members of electoral commission.
In this situation the electoral frauds and manipulations will be blocked. If the PCC would collect more than 50% of the official voting-papers of the electors it will signify the incontestable People’s Impeachment to Lukashenka. But it is obvious that the less number of the collected voting-papers would be enough in order to cause the fail of the regime.
Thus the People’s Poll is necessary in order to exclude Lukashenka from the electoral process. The next stage will be the democratic presidential elections in Belarus. The Belarusan Provisional Government can take the decision to launch the new elections (it would depend on the circumstances because the situation will be more aggravated).
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How is the actual situation in Belarus? In the mid of January the regime has understood how dangerous is the People’s Poll and my role in this activity for regime’s interests. January 18, 2006 (when we have achieved just 100 thousand signatures collected by our initiative group) the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has presented me the second official warning. This was a real ultimatum. The CEC has declared that all the signatures collected by my group will be not recognized as valid by the CEC because we inform the society on the People’s Poll (qualified by the CEC as “agitation”). The next days the members of my initiative group were regularly arrested by the police; the police send the minutes to the CEC. It become clear that the regime’s CEC will not register my candidature and the regime will persecute the persons which had supported my candidature and signed the electoral list (there were noticed their private addresses and numbers of the passports). The regime has blocked my candidature. We have understood that the regime will not allow me to come to Belarus. Because of that we have taken decision to protect our supporters and not to give up the collected signatures (135 thousand) to the CEC.
At the beginning of February the People’s Civic Commission and its structures have been formed. We have elaborated the Statute of the PCC and are continuing the information activity on the People’s Poll. This activity is concentrated in Minsk and big cities. We have had the consultations with the groups of other candidates (except of Haydukevich). Mr. A. Vaytovich has supported the idea of the People’s Poll. Milinkevich and Kazulin (they are financed by Moscow in order to demonstrate the “democratic” character of the elections – this is profitable for Lukashenka) were not able to make their own decisions and did not support the idea of the People’s Poll.
After the registration of the candidates they came to Moscow in order to get its support. But we understand that the Russian KGB regime will not replace Lukashenka for Kazulin (but we cannot exclude this variant completely). Moscow is supporting Lukashenka like in the past time. Moscow will continue to imitate the “democratic” elections using all Lukashenka’s pseudo-competitors.
We regard the position taken by the European Union as a verbal demagogy, naivety and impotence as well as the lack of the conception with regard to the elections in Belarus. Europe is supporting Moscow (deliberately and not).
Now the scantiness of the information represents the main obstacle for the People’s Poll. The Popular Front based its activity always only on our people. The People’s Poll needs the information on a broad scale like the fresh air. We know that when the Belarusans have information on the People’s Poll they support this idea immediately.
Zianon Pazniak
Chairman of the Belarusan Popular Front “Adradzennie” and
the Conservative Christian Party -- BPF
February 22, 2006