politics

Presidium of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada) supports the initiative of Vitebsk Regional BSDP organization (December 2008) on Belarusian left Parties consolidation. Presidium proposes to all of the supporters of social-democracy in Belarus to make some concrete steps towards to consolidation and unification. BSDP (Hramada) is sure that this process will be supported by leaders of European social-democracy as well as by Party of European Socialists and Socialist International leadership.

We, officers of the Committee of State Security (KGB) of the Republic of Belarus want to make a matter of public knowledge the fact that the administration of the Minsk detention center is using unlawful methods of physical influence on the former presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin, recently sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

We, members of the Public Commission for the civic control over the trial against professor Alexaner Kozulin, former presidential candidate and a leader of Belarusian social democratic movement, express deep alarm with the escalating repressions against democratic activists in Belarus. These repressions have been particularly strong after the 2006 presidential elections.

       Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada) addresses to you with a case of unexampled judicial proceedings under the former Presidential contender Aliaksandr Kazulin, which has place in our country these days.

Mechyslau Hryb, the head of Alyaksandr Kazulin's presidential nomination group, has sent letters to the Central Election Commission and the Prosecutor-General's Office alleging obstruction of the collection of ballot-access signatures, Belapan reported on 9 January. The group says its members were not admitted to a student dormitory of Yanka Kupala State University in Hrodna, while officials in Slutsk, Minsk Oblast, refused to register the gathered voter signatures.

The group also alleges that some of its members were pressured to quit the signature collection for Kazulin, and that unauthorized individuals in Vitsebsk and Minsk collected signatures for the incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka at workplaces during work hours, which is forbidden by the Electoral Code.

On 8 January, RFE/RL's Belarus Service held a roundtable discussion on Russian gas supplies with five presidential candidates. Here some comments from Alyaksandr Kazulin on this round table.

RFE/RL: For you as presidential candidates, what lessons do you take from the Russian gas row with Ukraine?

Alyaksandr Kazulin: We can make several conclusions and I think that all of them are evident. Anything that comes for free has strings attached. We should understand that nothing is ever for free. Secondly, to deal with any crisis we need to have a steady legal base. Agreements, which can be interpreted in different ways, earlier or later, end in misunderstandings and provoke conflicts as a result. That's what we have seen. If Yushchenko fulfilled the obligations taken by the former government the price would have been different from the one we have now. I should say that I do not fully support this quick rise to $230, but Russia offered $160 to Ukraine and Ukraine refused -- and did it in a bad way. You should not behave this way with a great country.
 
RFE/RL: As potential candidates, what gas prices would you agree with Russia?
 
Kazulin: I can guarantee that the price for gas would be as low as possible and would not increase as rapidly as in Ukraine. Of course, we all understand that, as world gas prices go up, prices in Russia will also increase. Of course they will go up in Belarus, too. It is clear that we should plan our politics according to world tendencies. But it is clear that the gas price in Belarus will not be so high....