Before answering this question, it is worth recalling what basic principles made unification possible in 2020. The three girls became a symbol of the compromise of the headquarters around the idea of organizing fair elections and the speedy release of political prisoners. Was this unification around a person, a strong personality, a leader ready to lead? Certainly not. Despite the fact that the initiative of unification was proposed by me, it was the people who forced the headquarters to unite for the sake of the possibility of change, the possibility of fair and competitive elections.
The ideology of possible unification today is diametrically opposed. As I said in an interview with Radio Liberty, the key difference between our team and the existing pseudo-democratic structures is the attitude to elections. And here, in my opinion, a more detailed explanation is required as to why this is a key, fundamental and basic difference, if you will!
I insist that idle talk about the possibility of such elections after the victory and public support for them here and now are not only diametrically opposed positions, but also a significant indicator of the attitude towards them in principle. We have heard a lot from the terrorist Lukashenko saying that "I've had enough of this power", that "I'm going to take my briefcase under my arm and leave", but it's still there. Should we believe those people who today do not even remember their promises of 2020 or politely dismiss them? We do not harbor any illusions concerning the decency of these characters who privatized the achievements of 2020 and successfully "drained" the protest, and also betrayed the purpose of this struggle, as they completely forgot about political prisoners, publicly stating: "We assume that all political prisoners will be released sooner or later". Moreover, during one of his most important visits to the U.S., when asked how the United States, by the way, one of the most influential countries in the world, could help, the answer was given - to write letters to political prisoners.
You should understand that all of this came in the context of more than two and a half years of our work to have Lukashenko recognized as a terrorist and to have the International Criminal Court issue a warrant for his arrest. It's been two years since the International Women's Fund filed its first complaints against Lukashenko with the ICC. The Forum of Democratic Forces of Belarus, which publicly recognized Lukashenko as a terrorist at its first meetings, has been operating for a year.
The Alternative Elections Initiative is over six months old, and the Lukashenko Ultimatum Initiative will soon be almost as old. U.S. support for any of these initiatives would dislodge the regime and free political prisoners in a matter of months, if not weeks. We will still dwell on each of these initiatives, but let's get back to the most important thing, the Elections!
We are not going to try to prove that such elections are possible, because it is rather a question of will, whereas today it is provided with technology, which has been proven by Venezuela and 10 thousand other election campaigns in countries with counter-technologies far more advanced than those of the Lukashenko collective farm regime.
So that you can better understand our team and such a "manic" position, advocating elections here and now, I will dwell on the very meaning of the word "Elections", which will allow you to separate the grain from the chaff.
And in this sense, talk about the difference between the structure formed on the basis of the voting of the whole Belarusan people and the structure formed, or rather, created by a group of impostors, already contains an answer. First of all, in the case of Elections, we get a structure in the formation of which the Belarusan people participate (are involved). It is not just a spectator, as in the situation with Lukashenko, when he is tap-dancing in his stand-up, while the people only watch his performances. The approaches of interest groups of other political forces, associations, factions, offices, and headquarters completely copy the relations in the "Lukashenko system. We who believe in competition and that only in the case of genuine competition will we have a really strong and influential political body in Belarus, to which, if we so wish, members of our team may not even necessarily be elected. Which in this case only emphasizes that we put the interests of the entire Belarusian people above the interests of our team. Proceeding from which, the same, but more concretely: all existing structures are about "samokhvalovs" and their dictatorship over the opinion of others, narcissism and lack of self-criticism, while we are about the right of people to determine their own leaders, team captains, pastors, guides to a new progressive world, to Belarus of the Future without dictatorship;
By recognizing the people's right to choose, we gain their trust in the new political force, since it will be formed by their decision. And a collectively elected body will be the real uniting force that will represent people of different views. Seeing their representatives, the people they trust in this political structure, they will trust all the consolidated decisions the National Council will make. Decisions which will be able to launch irreversible processes of dismantling the terrorist regime of Lukashenko.
By giving our people the opportunity to decide whom they want to see in the National Council, we are, above all, pushing people to show their WILL (will - expression). It is that first step on the road to democracy and liberation from tyranny, think of it as a small pebble that creates a wave, but can cause a tsunami if those small waves get a resonance. The main value here is that, as in 2020, the Belarusian people, by showing their will and expressing their trust in the candidates for the National Council, become part of this political structure. They will not defend the impostors and their decisions, but will stand up for the institution they believed in, because in this case, it is about defending their decision. Today the people are inactive in the room, but by giving them the opportunity to show their will, we can raise a wave of resistance to any force that wants to confront this people and their will, because here we will be talking about confronting this force not with some dubious impostors who are now usurping power in Minsk as an OCG. We are talking about the confrontation of this force with the people themselves, with the people who have decided to change something.
"The circle of anonymous impostors" today is extremely harmful and contributes to a split in the democratic movement, than pours water on the mill of the terrorist Lukashenko. Even despite the overwhelming majority of Belarusians wishing for change and for Lukashenko to leave as soon as possible, they cannot bet on a new player in his absence. In the absence of a popularly elected body, when the public space is dominated by self-appointed leaders with the makings of "cypress" and, to put it mildly, dubious abilities, many operating institutions in Belarus perceive them not only as competitors, but also as a personal challenge to themselves. The main question today for talented Belarusians is: Why should they trust, and sometimes even cede their positions to a bunch of crooks whom nobody has elected? How are they any worse than those who today have sworn in the no less "vertical" NAU or those who have signed a political slavery agreement (NDA) with the office/cabinet/staff. And hence the question of the need for the very changes that will bring about that very injustice.
Only elections can remove these contradictions, because they will give everyone the opportunity to fight for the right to become a leader of change, and elections to the collegiate body will unite all of Belarusian society under the flag of change, leaving no ground for multiplying the enemies of this very change!
