Refusal to Register United Social-Democratic Party: Bureaucratic Mess or Provocation?

On September 30 BelTA informational agency, referring to the Ministry of Justice, distributed information about refusal to register United Social-democratic Party. The reasons for the refusal appear to be irreconcilable and groundless: the alleged absence of certain documents necessary for registration, presence of under-aged persons in the list of the party members, etc. However, the party submitted all the necessary documentation to the Ministry of Justice in accordance with the present legislation. The Ministry workers haven’t examined the submitted documents in presence of the party members.

The party leaders who haven’t received any official decisions, applied to the Ministry of Justice for explanations. Head of the appropriate Ministry department, M.M. Sukhinin and lawyer of the same department U.L. Matveieu answered that BelTA information wasn’t true and that Matvieieu was put in charge of the registration case only on October 1, that’s why he would need not less than a week for the appropriate expertise. At the end of the working day on October 2 the Ministry workers had “no information about conclusion of the interdepartmental commission” that considers registration cases after expertise, with M.M. Sukhinin at the head. However, on the following day one could understand from confused answers of the Ministry officers that on October 2 the commission decided not to register USDP.

How should Belarusians treat such methods of work: as bureaucratic mess or provocation, professional negligence of the Ministry’s press service and BelTA or conscious “informational leakage” in order to prepare public opinion for the refusal to register the party? USDP is inclined to accept the last variant, taking into consideration resistance of certain political forces to unification of social-democrats.

Press release of USDP (still not registered)