Heorhi Dzmitruk: NGO Activists Began To Engage In Belarusian Politics
- 10.05.2023, 15:18
This is one of the problems of the opposition.
Many activists of the Belarusian opposition movements and parties were forced to leave the country after the 2020 protests. Members of the Belarusian Christian Democracy (BCD) were among them. The Charter97.org website spoke with BCD co-chair Heorhi Dzmitruk about what political force is today.
– Our political party was created in 2008 as an arrangements committee. We arranged the last congress on December 23, 2017. Further, the BCD was subjected to political repressions and our leader Pavel Seviarynets was imprisoned, and many activists escaped abroad. The process of restoring horizontal and vertical linkages is underway now.
Sure, we have divisions in many cities of Belarus, but after 2020, many activists left the country. We are trying to bring them together so that they can engage in political activities now.
We expressed distrust to two co-chairs: Volha Kavalkova and Vital Rymasheuski, as well as the head of the party administration, Dzianis Sadouski. They almost ceased their party activities and went about their own business from the moment the handcuffs snapped on the hands of Pavel Seviarynets.
Moreover, there is a conflict of interest due to their businesses in the frame of their third organisations. So we decided that this is not a good way of working. You can do whatever you want, but you can't quit the party. If you are leaving the party, then we create temporary bodies and engage in party activities, not near-party ones. Therefore, there is such a decision of the BCD, to which they answered in unison: “You do not have the right to speak on behalf of the BCD, because you endanger those people who are in Belarus.” To which we said: “Do you have the right to introduce yourself on behalf of the BCD when you travel to various European countries, but we do not? Why?"
Indeed, when we met last time (it was three weeks ago), we elected new bodies that will represent the party and will deal with its activities. Our activists in exile are united by the Warsaw and Bialystok divisions. I am a co-chairman, so I have the exclusive right to speak on behalf of the party's foreign office. So, I announced the creation of the office in Bialystok and proposed to unify around it when performing our activities.
– How do you feel about other structures in the Belarusian opposition that appeared after 2020?
– The so-called coordinating council is a structure that was elected in a non-democratic way. The BCD has a resolution on this matter, we cannot express “distrust”, but we stated that an organization that was elected in an undemocratic way and allegedly “reformed” cannot represent the interests of the democratic opposition. If we cannot elect this body, why should it represent us? This, of course, is nonsense. So we expressed it in our statement.
Then I had an interview on Belsat, where I spoke about the situation in general, but something strange happened. A day after it was published, they removed the interview from the webpage, and three weeks later it returned in short. This causes me a deep misunderstanding when such an authoritative organization can “cut” a published interview. I wrote several letters asking for clarification. They answered that the interview would return, but it would be in another form. There were no words: "Rymasheuski and Kavalkova are generals without armies."
We are adherents of democracy and we believe that we began to move away from ideas of democracy and parliamentarism. So, we are talking about the "new opposition", but some old methods are being implemented. It is necessary to renew parliamentarism and learn how to communicate.
The office of Tsikhanouskaia also takes a non-political stance. We all expected that they would start the unification, there were such hopes. However, how could the so-called reform of the so-called coordinating council be entrusted to those people who created it so mediocre and drowning in disputes? Here another question arises: how are you going to proceed further? The trust of Belarusians is not infinite, after all, they may later ask what they have done abroad to unite people, to do something European and democratic.
– What are the main goals that democratic forces should set for themselves today?
– All the activists of the democratic forces should pursue their direction. Parties should be involved in politics, each of us has some kind of public activity. I help the Belarusian Protestant Service in Bialystok, which has become a center of attraction for Belarusians. This is part of my life. You can’t combine everything, it will be some kind of mixture. Politicians should do politics. Our problem is that NGO activists have begun to engage in politics. When there are some ideological grounds behind people and not opportunistic ones, it is easier to talk to them.
Human rights activists should be engaged in human rights activities, it is not necessary to take everything under control. We are seeing centralization in Belarus, everything is subordinated to one political force and its name doesn’t matter. Public, political and even cultural life is subordinated to one demander. We must learn to live democratically. Everyone must do their job.
The decision to unite around the idea of releasing political prisoners is also blind. Yes, the topic is painful, especially for relatives and friends, but we must realize what we can and should do. After all, you can talk a lot but do nothing. Therefore, human rights organizations should focus on protection and legal assistance. Foundations should be involved in the evacuation, assistance to refugees and other necessary activities and not just to do but to achieve results.
There are a lot of such topics including assistance to political prisoners and people who have gone abroad. I am a pastor and I deal with such people every Sunday when they come to us for psychological and religious care.
Therefore, everyone should do their job. The sea captain cannot fly the aircraft, and the pilot cannot sail a ship. Therefore, we have a huge responsibility not only to the Belarusian people but also to God.