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57-633: Civil Forum was created in 1995 and registered in 1996 as the youth wing of the United Civil Party of Belarus (UCP) by the chairman of the Mogilev UCP branch Vladimir Novosiad. Civil Forum became independent from the UCP after UCP changed its ideology from liberal to conservative ( Liberal conservatism ) and refused to participate in the Parliament election (2000) despite the position of

114-633: A blogger from Slutsk , Uladzimier Niaronski. The Tsikhanouski's team, including Niaronski, were chased by road police and two minivans with members of the police special forces AMAP . The blogger's arrest was due to his trips around Belarus that covered consequences of Lukashenko ’s 26-year tenure as a president. The Tsikhanouski trips were popular and gathered hundreds of people who spoke out to him about violations of human rights and economic problems. During these trips, Tsikhanouski and his team were constantly chased by cars with people who were recording him and his activities; presumably they were employees of

171-417: A boycott of the election, describing the election a "political farce". Most government organizations forced their employees to sign for Alexander Lukashenko under threats that their work contracts would not be renewed. May June July August On 6 May, Belarusian blogger and entrepreneur Syarhei Tsikhanouski has announced on his YouTube channel "Country for Life" that he intended to become

228-482: A campaign “Help MP to Count”. After wide post-election repressions in 2020 Civil Forum initiated Statement on persecution of academic freedoms and students rights in Belarus which signed the biggest youth organizations in the country - Молодые демократы , Young social-democrats-Young Hramada, Young Christian-Democrats, Dobraja Volja, ABF Belarus, Dzedich. Annually the organization and its regional offices carry through

285-462: A candidate in the presidential election. The police officers refused to present identification (confirming that they were legitimate policemen) and threatened to break the windows of the car that Tsikhanouski was in. Prior to that, a crowd of Tsikhanouski's supporters in Mahilyow released a member of Tsikhanouski's team from the police. A day later, allies of Tsikhanouski were arrested, including

342-504: A candidate, nominees were required to meet certain criteria: The following list has information about registered candidates by the CEC for the presidential election on 21 July 2020. In January 2020, five opposition forces, the Movement "For Freedom" , Belarusian Christian Democracy , Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly) , BPF Party and United Civic Party of Belarus reached

399-547: A criminal case for violence against police officers. Tsikhanouskaya made an official statement regarding the detention of her husband and the head of the headquarters of her initiative group in Hrodna: "I officially declare: Today, 29 May, during a picket in Hrodna in support of my candidacy for the presidency there was a "dirty" provocation against Syarhei Leanidovich Tsikhanouski, head of the headquarters of my initiative group. He

456-497: A definite agreement to hold primaries to field a single candidate from the Belarusian opposition . Yury Hubarevich (For Freedom), Paval Sieviaryniec , Volha Kavalkova (both BCD), Aliaksei Yanukevich (BPF) and Mikalai Kazlou (UCPB) were listed as potential candidates. The Belarusian Green Party announced that it would not participate in the primaries and the election. The Belarusian Left Party "A Just World" called for

513-454: A hint of me: "We know his citizenship." They have information, analytical work! I have one citizenship, I never had any other. In terms of money — I've had business since 2005, I have money." A few hours after Lukashenko's statement, when Tsikhanouski was talking with the residents of Hrodna, nearby there was a provocation, where a policeman fell by himself and was lying on the ground whistling. One minute and thirteen seconds later, Tsikhanouski

570-481: A meeting with workers of Minsk Tractor Works : "They come cool, all in jeeps — 10-12 cars... we know whose cars he drives, who finances it. We know where he comes from, what his citizenship is and stuff... We all know that. I'm already looking, they're giving me information, our people have already seen it." Tsikhanouski commented on Lukashenko's statement to the Nasha Niva newspaper: "My last name isn't there, but

627-537: A parallel between Tsikhanouski and Navalny. Tsikhanouski then began travelling round the country to hold pickets in order to collect signatures for Tsikhanouskaya. Tsikhanouski's pickets were very popular and attracted thousands of people. The queue to the picket in Minsk near Kamarouski market was half a mile long. Several thousand people also attended the picket of Tsikhanouski in Homiel . Tsikhanouski announced that he

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684-473: A range of events, devoted to the Magdeburg Law, among which are contest for the best essay among school pupils, Oxford debates and information distribution. From the time it was founded, Civil Forum has been taking an active part in election campaigns. During 2020 Belarusian presidential election Civil Forum held an active pro-democratic position. The organization initiated big civil campaign against

741-476: A result, this manner of communication turned into a scuffle. The police, trying to restore order, found themselves in the epicenter of the scuffle, which was arranged on the square. One of the police officers was attacked." The leader of the United Civil Party , retired lieutenant colonel of the Belarusian police, Mikalai Kazlou, noted that during his speech at Minsk Tractor Plant , Alexander Lukashenko "gave

798-539: Is a banned liberal-conservative and liberal political party in Belarus . The party opposes the government of Alexander Lukashenko and has participated in the country's elections on a few occasions, but it did not have a single member in the Belarusian parliament until one member was elected during the 2016 elections . It claims that its lack of seats is due to the unfairness of the election process. Famous party members are former Prime Minister Michaił Čyhir ,

855-433: Is a reference to Alexander Lukashenko. Slippers are supposedly a traditional means of pest control. Euronews journalists called the events in Belarus the "Slipper Revolution", demonstrating the quote of the Belarusian activist Franak Viačorka with this phrase. On 29 May, Tsikhanouski visited Hrodna to collect signatures for his wife. On the same day, the head of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko alluded to Tsikhanouski at

912-761: Is between 16 and 31, who lives in Belarus, shares the goals of Civil Forum, accepts its program and fulfills the requirements of the statutes. Middle-age of Civil Forum members is about 25 years old. Most of members are students and young professionals who accept liberal goals and wish to force democratic processes have been just started in Belarus. Civil Forum is represented in 6 of 7 Belarusian regions: Mogilev , Gomel , Grodno , Vitebsk , Minsk regions and Minsk city (with regional status). Civil Forum holds seminars, conferences and trainings for its members, as well as cultural and sports events, and organizes youth camps and role plays, study circles and debates. Many events are aimed to teach young people proper election technics. Also,

969-553: The 2008 elections , the party ran on its own, finishing in third place with 2.33 percent of the official vote and no seats gained. As with most of the opposition parties, the UCP boycotted the 2012 election , urging its supporters to abstain from voting as to not give credence to the process. For the 2016 elections , the party formed an alliance with the BPF Party , the Belarusian Christian Democracy ,

1026-600: The 2019 Belarusian parliamentary election , and with the loss of the other pro-opposition independent, left it and the opposition without any representation within the House of Representatives once again. On 15 August 2023, the United Civic Party was banned by the Supreme Court of Belarus. UCP has an organisation for women and a youth organisation in its structure. In 1995-2000, the youth organisation of

1083-810: The National Assembly set 9 August as the date for the presidential election. Incumbent president Alexander Lukashenko had been leading the country since the first presidential elections held in 1994. Over the next two years, he rapidly consolidated his power. In 1995, he won a referendum that gave him the power to dissolve the legislature if he felt it contravened the Constitution. In 1996, he won another referendum that dramatically increased his power, and also extended his original five-year term to 2001 . Since then, his regime has been reckoned as an authoritarian dictatorship by Western observers. Opposition activists are often pressured or detained by

1140-732: The Social Democratic Party (Assembly) , the 'Za svabodu' movement, the Green Party , the BLPFP , the Trade Union of Electric Industry and independent candidates. Party candidate Hanna Kanapackaja won a seat in the 97th electoral district in the Kastryčnickaja district of Minsk, making her and one other independent candidate the first opposition MPs represented in parliament since 2004. The party didn't win any seats in

1197-508: The legislative elections , 13–17 October 2004, the party was part of the People's Coalition 5 Plus , which did not secure any seats. According to the OSCE /ODIHR Election Observation Mission, these elections fell significantly short of OSCE commitments. Universal principles and constitutionally guaranteed rights of expression, association and assembly were seriously challenged, calling into question

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1254-411: The Belarusian authorities’ willingness to respect the concept of political competition on a basis of equal treatment. According to this mission principles of an inclusive democratic process, whereby citizens have the right to seek political office without discrimination, candidates to present their views without obstruction, and voters to learn about them and discuss them freely, were largely ignored. In

1311-531: The Belarusian special services. After the Tikhanovski was arrested, his supporters held a series of protests across the Belarus. According to Radio Liberty , 20 to 30 people were detained in Homiel , which is Tsikhanouski's hometown. Viasna Human Rights Centre reported that at least 19 of his supporters were brutally detained in Minsk . After his arrest, Tsikhanouski was transported to Homiel, where he

1368-582: The Central Election Commission calling for the results to be invalidated. The election was marred by claims of widespread electoral fraud . Numerous countries refused to accept the result of the election , as did the European Union , which imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials deemed to be responsible for "violence, repression and election fraud". The results of the election led to widespread protests . On 8 May 2020,

1425-399: The Central Election Commission of Belarus refused to register the initiative group to nominate him. His spouse, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya , decided to apply for election as a candidate, her initiative group was successfully registered by the Central Election Commission of Belarus. Tsikhanouski became the head of the initiative group to collect signatures for Tikhanovskaya's participation in

1482-746: The Congress on November 4, 2012 Hanna Ivashkеvіch was elected to the position of the Civil Forum Chairman. At the Congress on November 2, 2014 Yury Stukalau was elected to the position of the Civil Forum Chairman. He was re-elected as chairman in 2016 and 2018. At the October Congress 2020 the second time in history of the organization woman was elected as chairperson. New chairperson became Ryta Savitskaya from Grodno city organization. In accordance with Statutes (Art.3.1) Civil Forum membership can be granted to anyone, whose age

1539-543: The Tsikhanouskaya campaign were held on 19 July in Banhalore Square in Minsk and the city of Dzyarzhynsk with an audience of around 7,500. She was joined on stage by Babaryka's campaign manager Maryja Kalesnikava and Tsepkalo's wife Veranika as they had announced earlier that they would merge their campaigns. Local governments cancelled several campaign events that Tsikhanouskaya had planned to hold in

1596-476: The UCP was "Civil Forum", which left UCP during parliamentary elections of 2000 , when the UCP boycotted it against the wishes of Civil Forum. Uładzimier Navasiad, chairman of Civil Forum, ran and won a seat in Parliament. In 2000, the youth organisation was "UCP Youth", created to replace Civil Forum, but was rather an artificial structure in the party. From later that year until 2009, YCSU Young Democrats

1653-826: The United States to expose "the true nature of the Belarusian regime." His wife, Veronika Tsepkalo, is remaining in Belarus to help the campaign of Lukashenko's main competitor in the election, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. In June, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya released a video saying that she had been threatened with arrest, and her children being taken away if she continued to campaign. She had to send her children abroad to live with their grandmother for their safety. The children of opposition candidates have been taken away before and put into state orphanages. According to Belarusian Electoral Code (articles 45 and 45 ), local authorities have to determine some outdoor sites for rallies and meetings, where mass events are possible. In Minsk,

1710-440: The activity of the organization includes protection of the students’ rights. For example, on August 27, 2006 Civil Forum received a formal notice for publishing in the “Molodezhni Prospekt” (“Youth Avenue”, the organization's newspaper) articles on the students’ bad housing conditions. During the reading of the draft bill on the depriving students of some of the social guarantees, Civil Forum together with Belarusian students conducted

1767-439: The authorities allowed six sites to be used for this purpose (none of them in the city centre) while only one site was usually allocated in each of the small towns. During the 2020 election, the authorities and confidants of Lukashenko widely used booking of these sites to prevent independent candidates to meet with people. In Pinsk (Brest region), local authorities provided only one site for meetings with candidates, and this site

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1824-577: The command to screw, twist, throw in jail, and the minister immediately seized this opportunity and created a provocation". Kazlou also noted that all the policemen involved in this provocation would be exposed and brought to justice. According to the Vesna Human Rights Centre , at least 13 people were detained, including two members of Tsikhanouskaya's initiative group and three assistants of Tsikhanouski. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus announced that investigators had opened

1881-664: The confidant of Tsikhanouskaya that the meeting couldn't be held due to "urgent repair" of the only provided site, but they didn't provide the alternative site (as requried by law). The meeting in Salihorsk was also cancelled by the authorities at the last moment. The people who gathered in Slutsk and Salihorsk were asked to leave and those who refused were arrested. Meetings with another independent candidate Andrey Dmitriyeu in Liepiel and Polatsk (Viciebsk region) were cancelled at

1938-500: The crises overcoming plan according to which the conferences of the regional organizations were convened and the Congress was called. The Congress assembled on November 28, 2007 was to solve the leadership issue. The member of the Central Auditing Commission Sergey Vаrаnkеvіch was elected to the position of the Civil Forum Chairman. New Central Council of Civil Forum composition was also elected. At

1995-491: The election. On 20 May, Tsikhanouski was released from the temporary detention center. He explained that the pressure of activist supporters helped to achieve it. In an interview with Tsikhanouski after his release, Deutsche Welle drew parallels between the Belarusian blogger and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the Ukrainian actor Volodymyr Zelensky , who became the president of Ukraine . RTVI also drew

2052-455: The event, DJs put the song "[We Want] Changes!" by Viktor Tsoi and thus supported Tsikhanouskaya. They were later sentenced to detention for 10 days. On 8 August, Maryja Maroz (campaign manager of Tsikhanouskaya) and Maryja Kalesnikava (see above) were arrested, but Kalesnikava was freed a few hours later. Demonstrations in solidarity with the Belarusian opposition have been held in more than 20 countries and in more than 30 cities around

2109-401: The government, and Lukashenko or those loyal to him control (as of 2020) all of the seats in both houses of the National Assembly , all judicial appointments, the media, and the CEC (which has the power to approve or deny candidates for political offices). The president of Belarus is elected using the two-round system . If no candidate obtains over 50% of the vote, a second round is held with

2166-411: The last moment for similar reasons. On 6 August, Tsikhanouskaya was forced to cancel a previously announced rally in Minsk due to full booking at all six sites in the city that were made available by the authorities. Instead, she, with Veranika Tsepkalo and Maryja Kalesnikava, visited one of the booked sites and invited people to join them, but the policemen did not allow three of them to come in. During

2223-953: The liberal orientation in its statutory documents Civil Forum left conservative international organizations it was member in and started integration in the world and European liberal associations. Civil Forum became the full member organization of International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) (since 2003) and European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) (applicant membership since 2004 and full membership since 2008). Since 2012 Civil Forum has been taken active part in Erasmus Programme youth exchanges. Since 2014 - in social youth projects of Council of Europe . United Civil Party of Belarus The United Civic Party ( UCP ; Belarusian : Аб'яднаная грамадзянская партыя; АГП , romanized :  Abjadnanaja hramadzianskaja partyja; AHP ; Russian : Объединённая гражданская партия; ОГП , romanized :  Obyedinonnaya grazhdanskaya partiya; OGP )

2280-556: The main pro-governmental newspaper Sovetskaya Belorussiya – Belarus' Segodnya accused it of political insult of Belarusians voted for alternative candidates. The independent observation mission during Presidential elections organized by Civil Forum and covering 40 election polls was the biggest young independent observation mission in Belarus. Observers detected big amount of violations on the election polls and published official report about it. In order to achieve its aims Civil Forum cooperates with international and foreign organizations on

2337-555: The mysteriously disappeared politicians Jury Zacharanka and Viktar Hančar , and Hienadź Karpienka , who died prematurely. The party was established in 1995 as a result of a merger of two like-minded parties, the United Democratic Party (formed in 1990) and the Civil Party (formed in 1994). The party's chairman is Mikałaj Kazłoŭ ; deputy chairmen are Alaksandar Dabravolski and Jarasłaŭ Ramančuk . At

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2394-531: The party youth. Civil Forum participated in 2000 elections nominating its President Vladimir Novosiad at the Kupalauski constituency in Minsk . After winning of Vladimir Novosiad in the elections Civil Forum members developed and started lobbying at the Belarusian Parliament draft-laws on alternative military service, on citizens savings etc. Having its own MP provided Civil Forum with

2451-408: The police station in Hrodna to demand the blogger's release. Shortly after Tsikhanouski's arrest, Belarusian state-owned TV channel Belarus 1 showed a story where the events in Hrodna were covered as follows: "From the very first minutes, this collection of signatures turned into a rally, and according to the law, it is prohibited to hold campaign meetings at this stage of the election campaign. As

2508-417: The possibilities of the organizing youth events in all regions of Belarus , sending official MP requests and other means of activities. Therefore, since 2001 Civil Forum started to be the leading democratic organization in Belarus . In 2002 part of Civil Forum members initiating creation of the first liberal party in Belarus - Party of Freedom and Progress . Minsk city organization member Vadzim Akhremka

2565-602: The principles of equality and mutual respect. The majority organizations Civil Forum cooperates with are based on liberal and democratic ideas. Local organizations of "Civil Forum" can participate in international cooperation sui juris only after the endorsement of the Chairman or Central Council of Civil Forum (Articles 4.20 and 4.22 of the Statutes). After the termination of connection with conservative United Civil Party of Belarus (UCP) in 2001 and final determination of

2622-419: The run-up to the elections. Before the 2020 presidential election, Alexander Lukashenko insisted that Belarus is not ready for a woman to be president. On 17 July 2020, the three women representing the main opposition candidates (Tsikhanouskaya, Tsepkalo's wife Veronica and Babaryka's campaign manager Maryja Kalesnikava) merged their campaigns, pitting "Female Solidarity" to fight Lukashenko. Viktar Babaryka

2679-407: The top two candidates. The winner of the second round is elected. A turnout quorum of 50% is applied. Despite the two-round system being in place, a second round has not been officially required since 1994. In the previous four elections, Lukashenko claimed margins of 77% or more in the first round. No election since 1994 has met international standards of transparency and fairness. To register as

2736-556: The vote, and called on Lukashenko to start negotiations. Her campaign subsequently formed the Coordination Council to facilitate a transfer of power and stated that it was ready to organize "long-term protests" against the official results. All seven members of the Coordination Council Presidium were subsequently arrested or went into exile . All opposition candidates have filed appeals to

2793-492: Was announced by the Central Election Commission (CEC) to have won a sixth term in office, crediting him with just over 80% of the vote. Lukashenko has won every presidential election since 1994, with all but the first being labelled by international monitors as neither free nor fair. Opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claimed to have won a decisive first-round victory with at least 60% of

2850-428: Was booked by a confidant of Lukashenko (Tacciana Lugina, mayor of Pinsk) from 24 July to 8 August. Due to this, Tsikhanouskaya failed to visit Pinsk on 2 August. In Stolin (Brest region), the only site was booked by Lugina too from 27 July to 8 August every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. On 4 August, Tsikhanouskaya planned to visit Slutsk and Salihorsk (Minsk region). On 3 August, local authorities of Slutsk informed

2907-417: Was collecting signatures for fair election in Belarus. Tsikhanouski uses the slogan "Stop the cockroach!" in his campaign, which is chanted by his supporters. The symbol of the campaign is a slipper. The slogan "Stop the cockroach!" refers to the fairy tale "Cockroach" by Soviet poet Kornei Chukovsky about how a "moustached cockroach" intimidated all the animals and became their ruler. Apparently, this slogan

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2964-464: Was detained by AMAP . Eight vans arrived to detain him. The soldiers of the special unit escorted Tsikhanouski into a police GAZelle van without showing their IDs. During the arrest, the van's door was broken. The blogger's supporters tried to stop the vans from leaving the place of detention. Unidentified people in tracksuits then cleared the way for the police transport to leave in a struggle with Tsikhanouski's supporters. The supporters then went to

3021-667: Was detained on 18 June during the reported arrest of several hundred opposition supporters. Charges of embezzlement and fraud have been brought against Babaryka, who is currently being held in a State Security Committee detention centre in Minsk. Valery Tsepkalo , who was not allowed to register as a candidate, and has "gone to Moscow with his children, fearing for his safety". During an interview, Tsepkalo mentioned that his friends in law enforcement agencies warned "an order had gone out for my arrest". Tsepkalo said he planned to give press conferences in Russia, Ukraine, Western Europe and

3078-507: Was detained. I declare responsibly that the picket was legal and peaceful. In connection with this, I demand the immediate release of the head of my initiative group, otherwise, I will regard it as a violation of my constitutional rights and pressure on me as a candidate for the presidency of Belarus". She promised to submit relevant applications to the CEC and the Interior Ministry. The first two mass rallies after registration by

3135-508: Was elected as chairman of Civil Forum and brought new team into leadership of Civil Forum in 2005. Repressions against Chairman Vadzim Akhremka, vice-chairmen, and some members of the Central Council preceding President elections (2006) knocked out the new Civil Forum leadership from their activities in organization. That provoked the crisis in organization of late 2006 - early 2007. Central Auditing Commission of Civil Forum approved

3192-699: Was officially a youth wing of UCP, but in February 2009 at the congress of YCSU Young Democrats, a decision to stop cooperating with the party was taken. Some members did not support the decision to restrain cooperation with United Civic Party and left, staying as UCP Youth. 2020 Belarusian presidential election Alexander Lukashenko Independent Alexander Lukashenko Independent [REDACTED] CIS Member State Parliamentary elections Presidential elections were held in Belarus on Sunday, 9 August 2020. Early voting began on 4 August and ran until 8 August. Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko

3249-469: Was placed in a temporary detention center. The formal reason for his detention was his participation in the rally against the integration of Belarus with Russia on 19 December 2019 in Minsk . After his detention, Tsikhanouski has announced on his YouTube channel his intention to run for president of Belarus. The video had recorded 250,000 views in 20 hours after the publication. The aforementioned YouTube channel had 276,000 subscribers as of 10 August. However,

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