Political Council decides not to register VIPs as delegates to key opposition forum :: Charter'97 :: News

The opposition coalition`s Political Council decided Monday not to register VIPs as delegates to the Congress of Pro-democratic Forces to be held in Minsk on May 26 and 27, Alyaksandr Bukhvostaw, chairman of the organizing committee for the Congress, told BelaPAN.

According to him, at its Monday meeting, the Political Council considered a list of about 200 VIPs that could be granted the status of delegates. The Belarusian Popular Front suggested that the status should be given to each person on the list, whereas the Belarusian Party of Communists (BPC) proposed denying the status to everyone and registering these persons as guests. Since no consensus was reached, VIPs will be registered as guests, not delegates, Mr. Bukhvostaw said.

He noted that persons prosecuted for their political activities would automatically become delegates and political prisoners would be able to delegate their rights to their authorized persons.

Imprisoned former presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin has suggested that VIPs to be invited to the Congress should include pro-democratic members of the 13th Supreme Soviet (the Belarusian parliament disbanded by Alyaksandr Lukashenka in 1996), members of the 1996 Constitutional Court, representatives of the Belarusian National Republic (BNR) Rada, and leaders of Belarusian communities abroad.

"We`ve already registered nearly 900 delegates and about 150 invitees, but there also will be guests and journalists, for whom there will be a special accreditation procedure," Mr. Bukhvostaw said.