BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/05/2007

Belarusian opposition scraps single leader, calls for dialogue with authorities

MINSK, Belarus (AP) - The opposition coalition in Belarus voted out a prominent foe of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko as its head on Sunday, instead electing four co-leaders and calling for dialogue with the authorities.

Alexander Milinkevich, who challenged Lukashenko in last year's presidential election and then led unprecedented protests in the tightly controlled country, criticized the changes and indicated he would continue to organize street protests in the ex-Soviet republic.

Milinkevich said after a vote in the Congress of Democratic Forces removed him as coalition chief and brought in four party leaders to head the group.

Milinkevich had been elected leader of the sometimes fractious coalition before the March 2006 presidential election, in which the official count gave Lukashenko a landslide third-term victory. He led protests that drew thousands of people following the vote, which was marred by widespread arrests of activists and denounced as illegitimate by the opposition and the West.

The opposition coalition approved a new strategy that calls for a suggesting some members saw Milinkevich as too confrontational.

said one of the four new opposition co-leaders, Party of Communists chief Sergei Kalyakin.

Milinkevich said the opposition would now likely suggesting that the coalition would seek dialogue with Lukashenko, but that a movement he is forming _ For Freedom _ would unite supporters of

he said.

Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994, quashing dissent, closing down opposition media and extending his term through flawed elections. The U.S. and the EU have imposed sanctions on him and top members of his government.

Along with Kalyakin, the new co-leaders of the opposition coalition are United Civil party leader Anatoly Lebedko and Belarusian Popular Front leader Vintsuk Vyachorka and Anatoly Levkovich, leader of the Social Democrats.

Source:

http://www.pr-inside.com/belarusian-opposition-scraps-single-leader-r136322.htm