Today is the last day of forming territorial election commissions. There would be more than a thousand and a half of them, 152 of which would be regional and district ones. The election headquarters of oppositional parties still do not have information that any of their representatives has been included into the composition of commissions. However, as reported by Radio Svaboda, it can be said for sure for now that two of the six regional commissions would not include representatives of opposition.
A meeting of the leaderships of the Russian and Belarussian Foreign Ministries has approved a plan of joint action for the period until 2009, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said.
Today the court in Babrujsk disallow a claim of the deputy of the city council Ales Chyhir to reinstate him at work, Radio Svaboda informs. The applicant does not agree with that and demand the city education department to reinstate him at his working place as a teacher. Ales Chyhir asserts that persecution of teachers for their political views exists in Belarus today.
Centralny Court of Minsk is to hear the suit of the opposition Party of Communists of Belarus (PCB) against The Communist of Belarus, newspaper of the pro-governmental Communist Party of Belarus (CPB) and its first secretary Tatsiana Holubeva. The communists in opposition demand the newspaper should officially deny the information it published. On July 18 the authorities organized the so called Merge Convention of CPB and PCB. After the convention The Communist of Belarus published extracts from the speech of Tatsiana Holubeva, first secretary of CPB and member of the Belarusian Chamber of Representatives. She claimed the majority of local organizations of the oppositional PCB has sent their delegates to the convention. Moreover, according to T. Holubeva, many local structures of the PCB had made a decision to join CPB. The communists in opposition were exasperated.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka is not completely satisfied with the quality of work of state youth and children public organizations. “Today not quantitative, but qualitative indicators of your performance, and I would like to wish you more new fresh ideas and initiatives,” he stated at the meeting with chairmen of pro-regime Belarusian Republican Youth Union, the Belarusian Republican Pioneer Organization and the Belarusian Committee of Youth Organizations. He noted that “the question of providing organizational support and cadres is very important today. Whom do we appoint today for work with the youth, who are these people?”
The leadership of Defense Ministry of Belarus has offered their counterparts in Russia to draw up a joint arms programme for the years 2007-2012, told a deputy head of Headquarters of the Military Forces of Belarus, Major General Pyotr Tikhnouski.
Today in Navapolatsk a member of the Conservative Christian party Belarusian Popular Front Anatol Kulik stops his hunger strike announced on October 4, Radio Svaboda informs. It was an action of political support to Alyaksandr Kazulin. As said by Anatol Kulik, during the hunger strike he hadn’t been ceasing work in one of private companies.
In Belarus 159 Protestants are taking part in the indefinite hunger strike in defence of the New Life church in Minsk. The hunger strike is carried out by Christians of the Fellowship of Churches of Full Gospel, the BelaPAN was informed by a press secretary of the church Ina Davydovich.
This year Polish-Belarusian trade turnover together with services could become a record one and make USD 2 billion. In an interview for Belarusian government’s weekly “7 Dnej” a counsellor on economic issues of Polish Embassy in Minsk Andrzej Szot told that the trade turnover has reached almost USD 1 billion for the 7 months of this year. It is by 21% more as compared to the same period of the last year.
On October 20 “the council of republic” rejected a draft law “On counteraction to extremism” offered by the government and passed by the “chamber of representatives” on October 11. The draft law had been presented by the chairman of the standing committee on international affairs and national security Mikalay Charhinets (Nikolay Cherginets). The proposal of the specialized commission to reject the bill has been supported by 42 “parliamentarians”. 2 members of the “council of republic” voted in favour of it.
An anniversary summit of the CIS leaders changes its format again. This time the place, and not the time is changed. The summit is to take place in Astana instead of Minsk. Organizers of the event claim that the summit will start in the end of November. The CIS summit is dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and it can be held in the place it had been proclaimed, in Almaty. On December 21, 1991 leaders of 11 Soviet Union republics (except Georgia, that joined the CIS later) gathered, “Vremya Novostei” writes.
On October 20 two years since murder of our colleague, a journalist of the “Solidarity” newspaper Veranika Charkasava (Cherkasova), are marked. The murderer hasn’t been found yet.
A former candidate for presidency in Belarus, a political prisoner Alyaksandr Kazulin, who is serving the term in a minimum security colony, starts an indefinite hunger strike today, on October 20. The aim of the hunger strike is to compel consideration of the situation in Belarus in the UN Security Council, so that “the international community would direct attention to the lawlessness committed in Belarus”.
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