“Stop arguing and work together” – with this slogan in Vilnius on August 8 began the conference “New Belarus”, scheduled to coincide with the second anniversary of the beginning of the protests. The event brought together almost the entire Belarusian opposition: among more than 300 guests were Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Pavel Latushko, Vadim Prokopyev and many others. Of the prominent oppositionists, only former presidential candidate Valery Tsepkalo did not attend, who declined to attend the conference, comparing it to the pro-government Belarusian People’s Assembly. But he also sent his wife Veronica as a representative.

Even in the preparation phase, the event was accompanied by scandals, so not everyone was sure that the opposition would be able to calmly discuss the future strategy of the democratic forces and not fight, their critics and Belarusians themselves. Whether it was possible to go without disputes and how exactly the opposition will unite – in the DW report.

“If we don’t set a goal of unity, we can get up and leave”

The tone of the conference was set by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in her welcome speech. She said that shortly before the event began, her office launched a form to collect criticism and suggestions from ordinary Belarusians. “Do you know what the two most frequent responses were? ‘Stop swearing’ and ‘come together around a common plan.’ said Tikhanovskaya.

The leader of the democratic forces said that one person is not enough to continue the fight, so all structures and Belarusians need to unite. “Our objective is to find a way out of the political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Belarus. This can only be done together and with the support of the majority. with those who are close to us, but not everyone, if politics becomes a career and not a way to improve people’s lives, then we can all get up and leave now.”

The opposition called for the creation of an alternative government

Speech by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya

In addition, Tikhanovskaya said the opposition must create a collective leadership and decision-making body. The creation of an alternative government body (which, strictly speaking, Tikhanovskaya announced on 24 February) became a central theme during the discussion on strategies to overcome the crisis in Belarus. Generally speaking, everyone present agreed on the need to create such a structure, although oppositionists had different approaches to its formation and even the name.

Former businessman and founder of the Pagonya Regiment, Vadim Prokopiev, believes that the government must have “all the necessary attributes of this organization: the Itamaraty, the Armed Forces, the finance department, the accounting chamber and the internal security service. the government should have a budget and collect taxes. The military and its own Mossad should be subordinate to this government.” He also asked not to be ashamed of the word “government”.

In turn, the head of the NAU, Pavel Latushko, suggested taking a decision on a transitional cabinet today or tomorrow. “Candidates for cabinet members must be presented to the representative body of Belarusian society, which is to be created in the near future. Only the system can defeat the system.” He called the cabinet’s priority the preservation of Belarus’ sovereignty, as well as the stable management of the country during the transition period.

Veronika Tsepkalo demanded to control the media

Although the “New Belarus” conference got off to a very constructive start, it was not without scandals and disputes. This time, Veronika Tsepkalo became the main troublemaker among the opposition. First on the sidelines of the conference, and later during the discussion, she expressed a proposal to establish control over “the so-called independent media.” According to her, the media does not sufficiently cover the Tsepkalo couple’s initiatives. In response, journalists at the conference urged politicians to stop treating them like the military.

Furthermore, in her insulting speech, she accused Tikhanovskaya’s office of lacking transparency, creating a “boto farm” that hates her and other activists, and also complained that Tikhanovskaya’s representatives did not attend the Forum of Democratic Forces. organized by Tsepkalo in Berlin. “We must admit that the two goals for which we gave Tikhanovskaya a mandate – the release of political prisoners and the holding of new elections – have not happened. The situation is only getting worse,” Veronika said. The hall often reacted to Tsepkalo’s theses with laughter.

How to reform the democratic forces of Belarus?

One of the most heated discussions at the conference concerned the reorganization of Belarus’ democratic forces. Olga Kovalkova, a member of the Presidium of the Opposition Coordinating Council, said the Constitutional Court decided to expand its powers to include representatives of civil society. “Now the agenda is being formed at the top, but it needs to be formed from below, so that ordinary Belarusians have mechanisms to influence leaders and politicians. Direct elections are what we need to pursue.” She also noted that she is ready to take collective responsibility as long as decisions are also made collectively.

Tikhanovskaya’s adviser Franak Vyachorka also said the office was ready to take responsibility for mistakes and indicated that he himself did not apply for a Cabinet seat. According to him, the Constitutional Court and the cabinet must assume responsibility in specific areas and report to Tikhanovskaya and society within 6 months. He also noted that the process of “recovery of democratic forces” is taking place.

Summarizing the results of the first day of the conference, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya supported most of her colleagues’ theses. “We need to remember who this is being done for, how Belarusians are taken into account in our plan. We will work to ensure that there is real unification in future steps. But if they expect decisions from me within a specific timeframe, then someone should stay by my side and share not only the stage but also the responsibility,” she said.