Opposition activist complains to prosecutor’s office

Viktar Tsyapin, an activist of the Belarusian Party of Communists (BPC), has filed a complaint with the Baranavichy City Prosecutor's Office about the city government's failure to reply on time to an application for permission to set up a picket on September 30.

The objective of the picket was to distribute copies of the United Democratic Forces' Anti-crisis Platform and draw the attention of the public and the government to the deterioration of living standards in the Brest region, Mr. Tsyapin told BelaPAN.

People’s living standards are deteriorating because consumer prices are rising, real pay is decreasing and the rubel is depreciating, he said.

Mr. Tsyapin asked the Baranavichy City Executive Committee for permission to set up the picket in a park that is officially designated for demonstrations. He filed his application on September 15 and, under regulations, the committee was to have given its reply no later than September 25.

A total of nine applications for permission to put up pickets in Baranavichy on September 30 were filed by BPC members and one joint application was filed on behalf of the local chapters of the BPC and the United Civic Party, Mr. Tsyapin said.

The other applicants have not received a reply either and also plan to complain about this to the prosecutor's office, he said.

Earlier this month, the United Democratic Forces announced plans to set up more than 400 pickets across the country on September 30 to inform the public about its anti-crisis proposals.

Applications for permission were filed in 50 cities, including all regional capitals, as well as Barysaw, Salihorsk, Lyozna, Polatsk, Orsha, Baranavichy and Lida. Some 50 pickets were to be put up in Minsk.
Only two applications, one in Mahilyow and one in Polatsk, were granted.

The opposition coalition's Anti-crisis Platform consists of three sections. The first section assesses the current economic situation in the country. The second one proposes high-priority measures to be carried out within three months and the final section deals with the guidelines of a new economic policy for a period of between three and five years. The platform prioritizes the balanced development of the economy and calls on the government to speed up the introduction of information technologies in the economic management system.