A resident of Haradok near Vitebsk, Leonid Haravy, an activist of the movement "For Freedom", a member of the "Belarusian Association of Journalists", known to many of his fellow social activities. Mr. Leonid has extensive experience in the elections: he was once a member of the Electoral Commission, after participated in many election campaigns as an observer.
So the question that "Dialogue" asked the leader - about the election.
- How do you see the next local council elections?
- The last time really counted to vote in elections for local councils in 2003. Then across the country about 200 representatives of the democratic forces were elected to local councils, including three members of the district council in Gorodok.
Since a referendum in 2005 finally ceased work of election commissions on the actual vote count. This falsification of the record of international and independent observers on the basis of all subsequent campaigns. There are already several times kvazivybory.
In this situation, when in jail are political prisoners, and real changes in the electoral law regime does not want to, a democratic society must confirm their availability, their alternative. Must be a point to participate in those districts where it is possible to conduct an adequate campaign. It is predominantly the major cities and regional centers, where there are points of democratic thought.
Along with the promotion campaign should be organized in districts with Democratic candidates and effective supervision.
These are the problems that can be addressed in the campaign. Significant changes in the behavior of the regime should not wait, so we need to address these local issues with an eye to the presidential campaign.
- Mr. Leonid, with your position on the elections is clear. And returning to the past, why did your political activity?
- It all started with an interest in our heritage and the socio-political events, which in the second half of 1988 took place in Minsk: the creation of the "martyrdom", the organizing committee of the Belarusian Popular Front, the brutal crackdown on the march Dziady. The received literature from Zenon Pozniak has helped to better understand the events that then took place in Belarus. It was at that time I was the initiator of the Haradok department TBM - at the founding conference was attended by over 30 delegates from different schools in the district.
In 1990 she became evident destructive position of the PBC on the national question, then, as the director of the village school, put the party ticket for disagreeing with the party's policy on the national question.
Then there were the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the 12th convocation, where he supported an independent candidate Galaya Nicholas, director of the proletarian school, which was supported by more than 4 thousand voters district.
In fact, my work in the national revival and political struggle began 25 years ago and has continued and now.
- What it is manifested in the Vitebsk region?
- In the region I facilitate local initiatives that are aimed at informing the public about the real socio-economic development of the country and the region. This edition of the independent newspapers and the development of the web site, and more. Also support a variety of cases aimed at the development of civil society. Directly to the Township outstanding cultural and public information paper "Gastsіnets" administrating Internet resource.
During the campaign promotes the election of independent candidates, as well as participate in monitoring the activities of election commissions at the time of voting.
The commissions I do not normally include, but during times of observation recorded the facts of violations of election law by the election commissions. Unfortunately, the police do not give a proper assessment of this fact. A rather unpleasant facts: forgery of documents, preparation of responses to the complaint, as long as it was filed, or the recognition of the first re-treatment and the cessation of correspondence from the CEC.
- You mentioned Internet resource that you are doing. Please tell us more about your site.
- Our site provides information to users about the history, geography, culture, Gorodok, and almost daily news about the life of the region and the country in different headings: "Politics", "Company", "culture", "economy", "Sport", "Incidents . " The site displays numbers of the independent newspaper "Gastsіnets" there is material on the 1918 anti-communist resistance, materials tarasovedeniyu - the poem "Taras on Parnassus" and its author Constantine Verenitsyne.
The website is bilingual - provides information on the two official languages: Belarusian and Russian. We are interested in feedback from its users, who are able to leave comments on each article.
- What are you working on now, what have plans for the future?
- Daily work on filling the site - this is something to work now and then. An urgent task for us is to promote the site in social networks. But you need to further develop the individual sections of the site to enhance its exclusivity, as well as add new ones.
Regard the matter of public interest to inform the public about the "card index of Stalin" - lists of repressed by Gorodok district, which must appear on the site over the coming months. These lists will be drawn from the "File Cabinets Stalin," which earlier this year published daily in the pages of the portal, "Radio Liberty" and contains more than 70,000 victims of Stalin's murderous regime. More than a thousand were repressed in Gorodok, Miechow, Mezhenskogo, Ezerischinskom districts that existed at the time.
No less relevant is and to draw public attention to the problem of hogweed, which captures all the large areas in the Borough, and the authorities are not effectively deal with this botanical monster. It is a pity that the annual loss springtime, when it is possible to effectively deal with the cow parsnip, and in the fall he continues his assault on the old village of Gorodok district that disappear...
