{"id":11496,"date":"2022-11-14T10:37:54","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T07:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/opposition-moves-to-revive-coordination-council\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"opposition-moves-to-revive-coordination-council","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11496\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposition moves to revive Coordination Council"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>By Via\u010dasla\u016d Korascie\u0144, <span>BPN<\/span><\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n <span>Belarus\u2019 opposition leaders have announced a plan to convene an expanded broad-based Coordination Council next month for the first time after mass arrests forced some of its members to flee abroad in 2020.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Enlarged line-up, but direct election unrealistic<\/h2>\n<p>\n\t More than 100 delegates, both unaffiliated and representing nonprofits and political groups, are expected to convene before December 16 for the first session of a reorganized Coordination Council, Volha Kavalkova, a member of the Council\u2019s Presidium, announced at a news conference in Warsaw on October 27.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Opposition leader Sviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja\u2019s United Transition Cabinet said that the Council will approve strategic documents, host open public discussions and work on new solutions to sociopolitical issues.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Established in 2020 amid sociopolitical unrest, the Council was forced to suspend its operation after authorities accused it of a conspiracy to seize power and arrested its prominent members, including Maryja Kalesnikava and Maksim Znak. Others, including writer Sviat\u0142ana Aleksijevi\u010d and politician Pave\u0142 \u0141atu\u0161ka, were forced to flee abroad.\n<\/p>\n<h2>Inclusive body<\/h2>\n<p>\n\t In contrast to the United Transitional Cabinet, the opposition camp\u2019s executive, the Coordination Council is being designed as an inclusive broad-based body to represent opinions and interests of civil society and political groups and opinion leaders, said Andrej Kazakievi\u010d, director of the Political Sphere think tank.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t It might give the opposition governance structure additional political weight and legitimacy, he added.\n<\/p>\n<h2>Capka\u0142a\u2019s parliament in exile<\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Valeryj Capka\u0142a, a former presidential hopeful currently at odds with Cichano\u016dskaja, has been working for months on a project to organize an online election for a Belarusian parliament in exile.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Coordination Council\u2019s revival might be an attempt to \u201ccounterbalance\u201d Capka\u0142a\u2019s initiative, said Pave\u0142 Usa\u016d, of the Center for Political Analysis and Prognosis.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Cichano\u016dskaja camp may be trying to prevent rivals from \u201cprofiteering from a democratic agenda\u201d by \u201cpulling over key resources and monopolizing controls,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Kazakievi\u010d dismissed Capka\u0142a\u2019s effort as inconsistent and sporadic.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t He pointed out that it is much more important for Cichano\u016dskaja to draw the team of former presidential hopeful Viktar Babaryka closer to her camp. Babaryka, whose presidential bid had electrified voters in 2020, was given 14 years in prison on charges that are widely regarded as fabricated for political reasons.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Babaryka\u2019s associates, who dominated the original line-up of the Coordination Council, are said to be involved in preparations for the convention, Kazakievi\u010d said.\n<\/p>\n<h2>Usa\u016d: public discussion is important<\/h2>\n<p>\n\t The Coordination Council could initiate and host public discussions to help opposition groups coordinate their efforts and iron out differences, Kazakievi\u010d said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The idea behind it is to encourage public discussion and promote accountability, Usa\u016d said. \u201cSince many active and educated citizens of Belarus have been forced to move abroad, the CC could contribute to political education and self-education,\u201d he noted.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Both experts admitted that the council is likely to have limited influence on Belarus\u2019 politics because authorities not only defy any advice coming from critics but also seek to identify and lock out the most outspoken ones, including those based abroad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Via\u010dasla\u016d Korascie\u0144, BPN Belarus\u2019 opposition leaders have announced a plan to convene an expanded broad-based Coordination Council next month for the first time after mass arrests forced some of its members to flee abroad in 2020. Enlarged line-up, but direct election unrealistic More than 100 delegates, both unaffiliated and representing nonprofits and political groups, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11496","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Opposition moves to revive Coordination Council | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Via\u010dasla\u016d Korascie\u0144, BPN Belarus\u2019 opposition leaders have announced a plan to convene an expanded broad-based Coordination Council next month for the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11496\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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