Civil Forum
Encyclopedia
Belarusian Liberal Youth Organization "Civil Forum" is the only Belarusian liberal youth organization and the only democratic youth organization with the legal status on national level (it was registered by the Ministry of Justice of Belarus
in 1996). Civil Forum acts in order to bring closer the day when elections in Belarus are free from frauds, when liberal
rights and freedoms of individuals are not repressed by the government, when citizens are free to speak and act without fear of being imprisoned by political and ideological reasons, when Belarus is the sustainable, responsible and peaceable partner in the Eastern-European region.
(UCP) by the chairman of the Mogilev UCP branch Vladimir Novosiad. Civil Forum became independent from the UCP after UCP changed its ideology from liberal
to conservative (Liberal conservatism
) and refused to participate in the Parliament election (2000) despite the position of the party youth.
Civil Forum participated in 2000 elections nominating its President Vladimir Novosiad
at the Kupalauski constituency in Minsk
. After winning of Vladimir Novosiad
in the elections Civil Forum members developed and started lobbing at the Belarusian Parliament draft-laws on alternative military service, on citizens savings etc..
Having its own MP provided Civil Forum with the possibilities of the organizing youth events in all regions of Belarus
, sending official MP requests and other means of activities. Therefore since 2001 Civil Forum started to be the leading democratic organization in Belarus
.
In 2002 part of Civil Forum members initiating creation of the first liberal
party in Belarus - Party of Freedom and Progress.
Minsk city organization member Vadzim Akhremka was elected as chairman of Civil Forum and brought new team into leadership of Civil Forum in 2005.
Repressions against Chairman Vadzim Akhremka, vice-chairmen, and some members of the Central Council preceding President
elections (2006) knocked out the new Civil Forum leadership from their activities in organization. That provoked the crisis in organization of late 2006 - early 2007. Central Auditing Commission of Civil Forum approved the crises overcoming plan according to which the conferences of the regional organizations were convened and the Congress was called.
The Congress assembled on November 28, 2007 was to solve the leadership issue. The member of the Central Auditing Commission Sergey Vаrаnkеvіch was elected to the position of the Civil Forum Chairman. New Central Council of Civil Forum composition was also elected.
, Gomel, Grodno, Brest
, Minsk regions and Minsk city (with regional status).
Annually the organization and its regional offices carry through a range of events, devoted to the Magdeburg Law, among which are contest for the best essay among school pupils, Oxford debates and information distribution. From the time it was founded, Civil Forum has been taking an active part in election campaigns.
.
s Civil Forum cooperates with are based on liberal
and democratic ideas. Local organizations of "Civil Forum" can participate in international cooperation
sui juris only after the endorsement of the Chairman or Central Council of Civil Forum (Articles 4.20 and 4.22 of the Statutes).
After the termination of connection with conservative United Civil Party of Belarus (UCP) in 2001 and final determination of the liberal orientation in its statutory documents Civil Forum left conservative international organizations it was member in and started integration in the world and European liberal associations. Civil Forum became the full member organization of International Federation of Liberal and Radical Youth (IFLRY) (since 2003) and European Liberal Youth
(LYMEC) (applicant membership since 2004 and full membership since 2008).
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
in 1996). Civil Forum acts in order to bring closer the day when elections in Belarus are free from frauds, when liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
rights and freedoms of individuals are not repressed by the government, when citizens are free to speak and act without fear of being imprisoned by political and ideological reasons, when Belarus is the sustainable, responsible and peaceable partner in the Eastern-European region.
History and leadership
Civil Forum was created in 1996 as the youth wing of the United Civil Party of BelarusUnited Civil Party of Belarus
The United Civil Party of Belarus is a centre-right, liberal-conservative party in Belarus. The party opposes the government of Alexander Lukashenko, generally participates in the country's elections, but doesn't have a single member in parliament...
(UCP) by the chairman of the Mogilev UCP branch Vladimir Novosiad. Civil Forum became independent from the UCP after UCP changed its ideology from liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
to conservative (Liberal conservatism
Liberal conservatism
Liberal conservatism also known as progressive conservatism is a variant of political conservatism which incorporates liberal elements. As "conservatism" and "liberalism" have had different meanings over time and across countries, the term "liberal conservatism" has been used in quite different...
) and refused to participate in the Parliament election (2000) despite the position of the party youth.
Civil Forum participated in 2000 elections nominating its President Vladimir Novosiad
Vladimir Novosiad
Vladimir Novosiad is a Belarusian politician of liberal orientation, the leader of Belarusian Liberal Party of Freedom and Progress. He was born on April 12, 1968 in Kiev . Variants of his name include the following: Vladimir Novosyad, Uladzimir Navasiad, Uladzimir Navasyad,...
at the Kupalauski constituency in Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
. After winning of Vladimir Novosiad
Vladimir Novosiad
Vladimir Novosiad is a Belarusian politician of liberal orientation, the leader of Belarusian Liberal Party of Freedom and Progress. He was born on April 12, 1968 in Kiev . Variants of his name include the following: Vladimir Novosyad, Uladzimir Navasiad, Uladzimir Navasyad,...
in the elections Civil Forum members developed and started lobbing at the Belarusian Parliament draft-laws on alternative military service, on citizens savings etc..
Having its own MP provided Civil Forum with the possibilities of the organizing youth events in all regions of Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, sending official MP requests and other means of activities. Therefore since 2001 Civil Forum started to be the leading democratic organization in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
.
In 2002 part of Civil Forum members initiating creation of the first liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
party in Belarus - Party of Freedom and Progress.
Minsk city organization member Vadzim Akhremka was elected as chairman of Civil Forum and brought new team into leadership of Civil Forum in 2005.
Repressions against Chairman Vadzim Akhremka, vice-chairmen, and some members of the Central Council preceding President
President of Belarus
The office of President of Belarus is the head of state of Belarus. The office was created in 1994 with the passing of the Constitution of Belarus by the Supreme Soviet. This replaced the office of Chairman of the Supreme Soviet as the head of state...
elections (2006) knocked out the new Civil Forum leadership from their activities in organization. That provoked the crisis in organization of late 2006 - early 2007. Central Auditing Commission of Civil Forum approved the crises overcoming plan according to which the conferences of the regional organizations were convened and the Congress was called.
The Congress assembled on November 28, 2007 was to solve the leadership issue. The member of the Central Auditing Commission Sergey Vаrаnkеvіch was elected to the position of the Civil Forum Chairman. New Central Council of Civil Forum composition was also elected.
Membership
In accordance with Statutes (Art.3.1) Civil Forum membership can be granted to anyone, whose age is between 16 and 31, who lives in Belarus, shares the goals of Civil Forum, accepts its program and fulfills the requirements of the statutes. Middle-age of Civil Forum members is about 21 years old. Most of members are students who accept liberal goals and wish to force democratic processes have been just started in Belarus. Civil Forum is represented in 6 of 7 Belarusian regions: MogilevMogilev
Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...
, Gomel, Grodno, Brest
Brest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
, Minsk regions and Minsk city (with regional status).
Activities
Civil Forum holds seminars, conferences and trainings for its members, as well as cultural and sports events, and organizes youth camps and role plays, study circles and debates. Many events are aimed to teach young people proper election technics. Also, the activity of the organization includes protection of the students’ rights. For example, on August 27, 2006 Civil Forum received a formal notice for publishing in the “Molodezhni Prospekt” (“Youth Avenue”, the organization’s newspaper) articles on the students’ bad housing conditions. During the reading of the draft bill on the depriving students of some of the social guarantees, Civil Forum together with Belarusian students conducted a campaign “Help MP to Count”.Annually the organization and its regional offices carry through a range of events, devoted to the Magdeburg Law, among which are contest for the best essay among school pupils, Oxford debates and information distribution. From the time it was founded, Civil Forum has been taking an active part in election campaigns.
.
| campaigns | Nomination signatures collected (approx.) | Civil Forum members nominated | Mother Party of Freedom and Progress nominees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections 1998 | no records | 1 (in Minsk Minsk - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened... ) |
- |
| Parliament elections 2000 Belarusian parliamentary election, 2000 Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 15 October 2000, with further rounds of voting on 29 October, 18 March and 1 April. The vast majority of successful candidates, 94 of 110, were independents. Voter turnout was reported to be 61.08%.... |
no records | 1 (in Minsk Minsk - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened... ) |
- |
| President elections 2001 Belarusian presidential election, 2001 Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 9 September 2001. The result was a victory for Alexander Lukashenko, who received 77.4% of the vote. Voter turnout was 83.9%.-Results:... |
25000 | - | - |
| Local elections 2003 | 1400 | 15 (2 in Minsk Minsk - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened... , 4 in Mogilev Mogilev Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants... , 1 in Bobruisk, 1 in Bialynichy Bialynichy Bialynichy is an urban type settlement and administrative center of Bialynichy Raion of Mahilyow Voblast.Among other things, the town is known for the icon Our Lady of Bialynichy, worshiped by both Eastern Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic Christians of Belarus.... , 2 in Gorki Gorki Gorki may refer to:*Gorki, Russia, name of several inhabited localities in Russia*Gorki , originally named "Gorky", Belgian band of Luc De Vos-See also:*Gorki , a station of the Kazan Metro, Kazan, Russia*Gorky... , 2 in Grodno, 1 in Byhau, 1 in Pruzhany Pruzhany Pruzhany is a town in Brest Voblast, Belarus. Pruzhany is the center of a district in Brest Region, Belarus. Its population is about 20.000 people. The town is located at the confluence of the Mukha River and the Vets Canal, which give the start to Mukhavets River.-History:Pruzhany has been known... , [1 in Lida Lida Lida is a city in western Belarus in Hrodna Voblast, situated 160 km west of Minsk. It is the fourteenth largest city in Belarus.- Etymology :... ) |
- |
| Parliament elections Belarusian parliamentary election, 2004 Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 17 October 2004, with a second round of voting in two constituencies on 27 October, and a third round in one on 20 March 2005. The vast majority of successful candidates, 97 of 109, were independents... and national referendum 2004 |
15000 | 1 (in Bobruisk) | 3 (1 in Minsk Minsk - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened... , 1 in Mogilev Mogilev Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants... , 1 in Grodno) |
| President elections 2006 Belarusian presidential election, 2006 Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 19 March 2006. The result was a victory for incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, who received 84.4% of the vote. However, western observers deemed the elections rigged... |
14000 (together with the mother party) | - | - |
| Local elections 2007 | 8800 | 4 (2 in Minsk Minsk - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened... , 1 in Bobruisk, 1 in Grodno) |
13 (4 in Minsk Minsk - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened... , 4 in Bobruisk, 5 in Gomel) |
| Parliament elections 2008 Belarusian parliamentary election, 2008 The Belarusian parliamentary election, 2008 was held in Belarus on 28 September 2008. The 110 seats in the House of Representatives were at stake.... |
9200 | 1 (in Bobruisk) | 6 (2 in Minsk Minsk - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened... , 2 in Mogilev Mogilev Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants... and 2 initiative groups not registered) |
International cooperation
In order to achieve its aims Civil Forum cooperates with international and foreign organizations on the principles of equality and mutual respect. The majority organizationOrganization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...
s Civil Forum cooperates with are based on liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and democratic ideas. Local organizations of "Civil Forum" can participate in international cooperation
Internationalism (politics)
Internationalism is a political movement which advocates a greater economic and political cooperation among nations for the theoretical benefit of all...
sui juris only after the endorsement of the Chairman or Central Council of Civil Forum (Articles 4.20 and 4.22 of the Statutes).
After the termination of connection with conservative United Civil Party of Belarus (UCP) in 2001 and final determination of the liberal orientation in its statutory documents Civil Forum left conservative international organizations it was member in and started integration in the world and European liberal associations. Civil Forum became the full member organization of International Federation of Liberal and Radical Youth (IFLRY) (since 2003) and European Liberal Youth
European Liberal Youth
European Liberal Youth is an international organisation of Liberal youth movements - mostly the youth wings of members of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party....
(LYMEC) (applicant membership since 2004 and full membership since 2008).