January 9, Pozirk. Nationalization, a ban on privatization, gambling and LGBT, severe censorship and reprisals are high on the list of priorities of a presidential candidate from Communist Party of Belarus (CPB) in the election coming up on January 21-26.
“We propose deeper cleansing of the state system and the whole society from werewolves who occupy responsible positions,” says Siarhiej Syrankoŭ, a supporter of Alaksandar Łukašenka, in his manifesto, noting that people who participated in 2020 protests “are still around.”
The paper emphasizes that by nominating its candidate, the CPB is running together with Łukašenka, not against him.
He proposes the censorship of the press, books, films and cultural works to ensure compliance “with the ideology of Belarusian socialism” and stop society’s moral, ideological and spiritual decay.
He promises the state fight against sodomy and LGBT. “Separately, we should start combatting mass divorces.”
The CPB candidate praises Josef Stalin and suggests rebuilding monuments to commemorate the Soviet dictator “as the faithful father of Belarusian statehood.”
His economic program also contains controversial measures.
He says that the purchase of expensive and unjustified luxury items and the possession of excessive wealth “should be subject to taxes and fees.”
If elected, he promises to write down in laws “the obligation of private business entities to carry out charitable activities” and calls for “a gradual increase in the profit tax.”
The manifesto notes that “limited-term employment contracts make workers vulnerable” and proposes permanent employment contracts and all social guarantees.
“We suggest gradually nationalizing the private, commercial medical institutions and refusing to provide paid services,” it says.
“Today we see a need to begin the process of gradually reducing the retirement age to 55 years for women and 60 years for men by raising employee contributions to the Social Security Fund to 2 percent,” the manifesto says.
“We propose the gradual nationalization of the country’s entire banking system and its transition to a people’s banking structure based on a sectoral principle (savings, agriculture, industry and construction, foreign trade, banks, etc.),” it proclaims.
Furthermore, the manifesto proposes a constitutional ban on the “privatization of any form of state property” and the expansion of state ownership.
Syrankoŭ advocates “state support for the Belarusian language and culture, which are a unique and inimitable treasure of our country.”
Last month, the Central Election Commission registered five candidates. In addition to Syrankoŭ, these are Alaksandar Łukašenka; Alaksandar Chižniak, of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice; Aleh Hajdukievič, of the Liberal Democratic Party; and Hanna Kanapackaja, who run for president in 2020 and had been a member of the National Assembly in 2016–2019.
Belarusian pro-democracy forces have already dismissed the race as a sham, pointing to the lack of opportunities for opposition contenders.
Minsk tightly controls preparations for the seventh presidential election after purging the political landscape of the opposition.
Belarus has not held a single free and fair election since 1996, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
