VZCZCXRO7549
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSK #0073/01 0620823
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 030823Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0134
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHSK/AMEMBASSY MINSK 0136

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000073 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS: NEW POLITICAL PARTY OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES FOR CIVIL 
SOCIETY, REGIME 
 
MINSK 00000073  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.   (SBU) The Belarusian Christian Democracy Party (BCDP) held 
its founding congress in the "Palace of Culture" of the Minsk 
Tractor Factory February 28.  While strongly conservative -- and 
somewhat confrontational -- in its philosophical outlook, the 
BCDP is seen by civil society as an important new player.  The 
GOB has shown willingness to make some gestures towards the 
Christian Democrats, and may be prepared to grant the party 
registration.  End summary. 
 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Building on the roots of a previous Christian 
democratic party first formed in 1917, the BCDP is headed by 
Paval Sevyarynets, former youth activist and founder in 1997 of 
the "Young Front" (Malady Front).  Sevyarynets initially began 
the "Belarusian Christian Democracy" movement in March 2005. 
That movement has not been officially registered, and has not 
formally been a political party, although it did participate in 
the efforts of the United Democratic Forces (UDF) to form a 
single list of democratic opposition candidates for the 
September 2008 parliamentary elections.  (Comment: Members did 
not reach consensus regarding calls for a boycott of the 
elections; Paval's mother Tatsyana Sevyarynets withdrew her 
candidacy, although other party colleagues did not, and Paval 
himself advocated participation.  End comment.)  The party 
platform includes a ban on abortions and strong calls for 
Belarus to remain sovereign. 
 
Founding Congress 
----------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The GOB first denied permission for the congress to 
take place but eventually approved the event and provided a 
venue.  The hall was festooned with party symbols -- a blue 
"Bethlehem cross" on the traditional white-red-white national 
flag -- and packed with 206 voting participants as well as 
invited guests.  Prominent Belarusians included former 
presidential candidates Alyaksandr Milinkevich and Alyaksandr 
Kazulin, United Civil Party chair Anatol Lyabedzka, Belarusian 
Social Democratic Party-National Gramada chair Mikhail 
Statkevich, opposition leader Mikhail Marinich, Malady Front 
leader Zmitser Dashkevich and Maladaya Belarus leader Artur 
Finkevich.  Milinkevich, Kazulin, Lyabedzka, Statkevich, and 
Dashkevich were all given the floor.  Foreign guests included 
some European Christian Democrats, the Swedish Ambassador, the 
Head of the OSCE Office in Minsk, mid-level diplomats from the 
French and Polish Embassies, and Charge.  Sevyarynets read 
letters to the delegates from the Secretary General of the 
German CDU and other similar figures. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The most honored guest, or at least certainly the most 
cited, was present only in spirit: references to God and Jesus 
Christ were frequent and deeply reverential.  A few minutes' 
prayer figured several times in the program; speakers called on 
the attendees to answer every cry of "[Long] live Belarus!" by 
responding "Live with God!"  Sending a somewhat more open 
message, BCDP leader Vital Rymasheuski helpfully pointed out 
that -- in contrast to its religious and patriotic trappings -- 
the BCDP was open to persons of all faiths.  There was no 
reference to Belarus' extensive Jewish heritage; almost all 
speeches were in Belarusian. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Dashkevich, like Kazulin a former political prisoner, 
sounded the most confrontational note in the opening session, 
proudly proclaiming "we will never work with Communists" and 
telling the attendees that "we should not be afraid to be 
nationalists."  (Comment: Both sentiments play directly into the 
hands of the regime, which seeks to portray the democratic 
opposition as politically extreme.  Dashkevich's remarks 
received significantly less applause, with UDF leaders such as 
Kazulin and Lyabedzka keeping silent after the youth leader's 
strongest pronouncements.  The Belarusian Party of Communists 
continues to be an active partner in the UDF.  End comment.) 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In discussions with Charge on the margins of the 
congress, a number of BCDP members expressed satisfaction and 
surprise that the GOB allowed the party's congress to be held at 
all, and voiced optimism that the regime would favorably respond 
to the party's request for registration.  At the same time, 
party members reported that some of their colleagues had been 
harassed, in some cases threatened with dismissals, conscription 
and/or and criminal liability, if they were to participate in 
the congress. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
MINSK 00000073  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The BCDP is indeed a dynamic arrival on a political 
scene characterized by entrenched and hidebound institutions, 
interests, and personalities; in the long term, it could be a 
useful platform for the 32-year-old Sevyarynets to build his 
national standing.  The party clearly offers a political outlet 
for conservative Christians and Belarusian nationalists.  As 
such, however, it directly excludes large segments of the 
population that view the Soviet past with nostalgia, have less 
interest in the Christian faith, or prefer more liberal social 
policies.  The BCDP's most important task for now will be 
gaining broader sympathy for the human rights situation in 
Belarus by engaging with other Christian democratic parties in 
the EU. 
 
Comment cont'd 
-------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Separately, the optimism of BCDP members that their 
newly-founded party will win official sanction is not without 
foundation: a number of GOB officials, including editor-in-chief 
Pavel Yakubovich of the state-run "Sovetskaya Belarus" 
newspaper, have maintained privately that Sevyarynets is a good 
alternative to existing opposition leaders.  While the motives 
for such a view deserve scrutiny, quick registration of the BCDP 
would be a further positive step towards greater liberalization 
of Belarusian society. 
MOORE