Opposition’s Coordination Council to approve transition cabinet members

February 22, BPN. The Belarusian opposition’s Coordination Council will confirm the transition cabinet’s appointments, the Council’s presidium member Volha Kavalkova told BPN.

The Council, a sort of parliament in exile, will propose new members and confirm the existing ones after adopting its rules of procedure, she added.

The Council and the transition cabinet are part of the system of checks and balances, Kavalkova stressed.

Belarusian opposition leader Siatłana Cichanoŭskaja announced the creation of the opposition’s transition cabinet in Vilnius in August 2022, appointing its members for a six-month term. The cabinet’s goals include “protecting Belarus’ independence and sovereignty, representing national interests and working toward the country’s actual de-occupation,” she said.

The Council is a successor to the Coordinating Council for Political Crisis Settlement established in August 2020. The Belarusian government has designated it an extremist group and opened criminal cases against its leaders.