Belarusian Party of Workers denied registration

The refusal of the Ministry of Justice to register the Belarusian Party of Workers will be appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Ministry of Justice concluded that “the real number of the founders is less than the minimal number necessary to create a political party”.

The Ministry asked the BPW Council to give a protocol of the founding congress and other documents concerning the founding congress holding to check the materials presented are authentic. The BPW response was negative. They said the order of proposing delegates for the congress was studied by the credentials commission. In this connection, it was decided to suspend the state registration of the BPW and give additional time to fulfil the demands. The demands, mentioned in the delay of the registration, haven’t been performed.

The Ministry says the list of the BPW founders allegedly contains wrong information, moreover, “numerous violations of proposing delegates for the founding congress” were found.

The founding congress of the Belarusian Party of Workers was held in Minsk on July 26, 2009. It gathered 65 delegates from all regions of Belarus. Alyaksandr Bukhvostau heads the organizing committee on creation of the BPW. The party is formed on the basis of the Belarusian party of Labour, liquidated in 2004.

The Belarusian Party of Labour was founded in 1993. Bukhvostau was the constant head of the party (expect for some yeas) until it was closed down. On August 3, 2004, the party was liquidated by a decision of the Supreme Court, which satisfied the claim of the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice accused the party of systematic violations of the Civil Code, the law on political parties, and its own rules. Bukhvostau thinks the party was closed “on a political order of the authorities”.