The BPF Party ( be, Партыя БНФ, Partyja BNF; russian: Партия БНФ, Partiya BNF) is a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
. It was de facto established after the split of the
social movement
A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...
Belarusian Popular Front
The Belarusian Popular Front "Revival" (BPF, be, Беларускі Народны Фронт "Адраджэньне", БНФ; ''Biełaruski Narodny Front "Adradžeńnie"'', ''BNF'') was a social and political movement in Belarus in the late 1 ...
(
abbr. BPF; be, Беларускі Народны Фронт "Адраджэньне", Bielaruski Narodny Front "Adradžeńnie", links=no, ) in 1999. The Belarusian Popular Front was founded during the
Perestroika
''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
era by members of the Belarusian
intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...
, including
Vasil Bykaŭ
Vasil Uladzimiravič Bykaŭ (often spelled Vasil Bykov, be, Васі́ль Уладзі́міравіч Бы́каў, russian: Василь Влади́мирович Быков) (19 June 1924 – 22 June 2003) was a prolific Soviet and Belarus ...
. Its first and most charismatic leader was
Zianon Pazniak
Zianon Stanislavavič Pazniak ( be, Зянон Станіслававіч Пазняк, born 24 April 1944) is a Belarusian nationalism, Belarusian nationalist politician, one of the founders of the Belarusian Popular Front and leader of the Co ...
.
After a 2005 decree by president
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian language, Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian language, Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лука ...
on the restriction of the usage of the words ' ("Belarusian") and ' ("National", "Popular", "People's") in the names of political parties and movements, the party had to change its official name to "BPF Party".
Early history
The Belarusian Popular Front was established in 1988 as both a political party and a cultural movement, following the examples of the
Popular Front of Estonia
The Popular Front of Estonia ( et, Eestimaa Rahvarinne; RR), introduced to the public by the Estonian politician Edgar Savisaar under the short-lived name Popular Front for the Support of Perestroika, was a political organisation in Estonia in ...
,
Popular Front of Latvia
The Popular Front of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Tautas fronte) was a political organisation in Latvia in the late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and the ...
and the Lithuanian pro-democracy movement
Sąjūdis
Sąjūdis (, "Movement"), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sąjūdis), is the political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was es ...
. Membership was declared open to all Belarusian citizens as well as any democratic organization.
Its alleged goals are democracy and independence through national rebirth and rebuilding after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
. The main idea of the Front was the
revival of the national idea, including a revival of the
Belarusian language
Belarusian ( be, беларуская мова, biełaruskaja mova, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language. It is the native language of many Belarusians and one of the two official state languages in Belarus. Additionally, it is spoken in some p ...
. Initially, its orientation was pro-Western with a great deal of scepticism towards
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. At one point they propagated the idea of a union from the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
to the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
that would involve
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
,
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
and
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, similar to
Józef Piłsudski
), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania)
, death_date =
, death_place = Warsaw, Poland
, constituency =
, party = None (formerly PPS)
, spouse =
, children = Wan ...
's
Intermarium
Intermarium ( pl, Międzymorze, ) was a post-World War I geopolitical plan conceived by Józef Piłsudski to unite former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lands within a single polity. The plan went through several iterations, some of which antic ...
.
The party was in favour of removing Russian as an official language in Belarus. Russian became an official language following the
1995 Belarusian referendum, at the beginning of Lukashenko's rule, when a proposal for making Russian a state language received 83.3% support from the turnout.
Among the significant achievements of the Front was the uncovering of the burial site of
Kurapaty
Kurapaty ( be, Курапаты, ) is a wooded area on the outskirts of Minsk, Belarus, in which a vast number of people were executed between 1937 and 1941 during the Great Purge by the Soviet secret police, the NKVD.
The exact count of victi ...
near
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
. The Front claims that the
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
performed extrajudicial killings there.
Initially, the Front had significant visibility because of its numerous public actions that almost always ended in clashes with police and
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
. It was BPF parliamentarians who convinced the
Supreme Council of Belarus
The Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus, sometimes translated as Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus ( be, Вярхоўны Савет Рэспублікі Беларусь), was the unicameral legislature of Belarus between 1991 an ...
(the interim Belarusian parliament) to restore the
historical Belarusian symbols: the
white-red-white flag
The white-red-white flag ( be, Бела-чырвона-белы сцяг, Biela-čyrvona-biely sciah) is a historic flag used by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918 before Western Belarus was occupied by the Second Polish Republic and ...
and the ''
Pahonia
The coat of arms of Lithuania consists of a mounted armoured knight holding a sword and shield, known as (). Since the early 15th century, it has been Lithuania's official coat of arms and is one of the oldest European coats of arms. It is als ...
''
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
. During Soviet-times people faced arrest in the streets for displaying white-red-white symbols in Belarus.
In 1994 the BPF formed a so-called "shadow" cabinet consisting of 100 BPF intellectuals. Its first Prime Minister was . It originally contained 18 commissions that published ideas and proposed laws and plans for restructuring the government and economy. Its last economic reform proposal was published in 1999. In opposition to
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian language, Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian language, Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лука ...
's government, the party supports Belarus' entry into
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.
1999 split
In the late 1990s, the Popular Front split into two parties, both of which claim to be the legitimate continuation of the original BPF. The party's conservative wing under
Zianon Pazniak
Zianon Stanislavavič Pazniak ( be, Зянон Станіслававіч Пазняк, born 24 April 1944) is a Belarusian nationalism, Belarusian nationalist politician, one of the founders of the Belarusian Popular Front and leader of the Co ...
became the
Conservative Christian Party – BPF
The Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian People's Front ( be, Кансэрватыўна-Хрысьціянская Партыя - БНФ, Kanservatyŭna-Chryścijanskaja Partyja BNF; russian: Консервативно-христиан ...
( be, Кансэрватыўна-Хрысьціянская Партыя - БНФ, Kanservatyŭna-Chryścijanskaja Partyja BNF) while the moderate majority became today's BPF Party.
Modern history, participation in elections
At the
2004 legislative election the party was part of the
People's Coalition 5 Plus
The People's Coalition 5 Plus (''Narodnaja Kaalicyja Piaciorka Plus'') was a political alliance in Belarus, that opposed the regime of president Alexander Lukashenko.
At the legislative elections, 13–17 October 2004, the alliance won no seats. ...
(''Narodnaja Kaalicyja Piaciorka Plus''), which did not secure any seats. These elections fell (according to the
OSCE
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
/ODIHR Election Observation Missio
significantly short of OSCE commitments. Universal principles and constitutionally guaranteed rights of expression, association and assembly were seriously violated, calling into question the Belarusian authorities’ willingness to respect the concept of political competition on a basis of equal treatment. According to this mission, the principles of an inclusive democratic process, whereby citizens have the right to seek political office without discrimination, candidates to present their views without obstruction, and voters to learn about them and discuss them freely, were largely ignored.
In October 2005
Alaksandar Milinkievič
Alaksandar Uladzimyeravič Milinkyevič ( be, Аляксандар Уладзімеравіч Мілінкевіч, translit=Alyaksandar Uladzimyeravich Milinkyevich, russian: Александр Владимирович Милинкевич, trans ...
, a candidate proposed by the BPF and Zialonyja (
Belarusian Green Party
The Belarusian Green Party (BGP or BPZ; be, Беларуская партыя «Зялёныя»; БПЗ, Bielaruskaja partyja «Zialionyja»; BPZ; russian: Белорусская партия «Зелёные»; БПЗ, Belorusskaya partiya « ...
) was elected the common democratic candidate for the
2006 Presidential election.
During the
2010 presidential election the BPF Party nominated its own candidate for the presidency, , who was then the Deputy Chairman of the BPF Party. According to the official results, he gained 1.97% of the votes.
In 2011, following an internal conflict, more than 90 further members left BPF Party, including several prominent veterans of the original
Belarusian Popular Front
The Belarusian Popular Front "Revival" (BPF, be, Беларускі Народны Фронт "Адраджэньне", БНФ; ''Biełaruski Narodny Front "Adradžeńnie"'', ''BNF'') was a social and political movement in Belarus in the late 1 ...
, such as
Lyavon Barshchewski
Lyavon Barshchewski ( be, Лявон Баршчэўскі) (born March 4, 1958) is a Belarusian philologist and opposition politician.
Born on March 4, 1958 in Polotsk, Barshchewski graduated from Minsk State Linguistic University in 1980. He was ...
,
Jury Chadyka,
Vincuk Viačorka
Valiancin; russian: Винцук, translit=Vintsuk) is a diminutive form of Valancin. Ryhoravič Viačorka ( be, Валянцін Рыгоравіч Вячорка, , russian: Валентин Григорьевич Вечёрко, translit=V ...
. This was sometimes described as a "second split" of the Belarusian Popular Front.
In the Congress in September 2017, the new party leader
Ryhor Kastusioŭ has been elected. The Congress decided also to nominate
Alaksiej Janukievič and Belarusian-American attorney to the presidential office in the next elections. The final decision about the only candidate has to be made in the future.
On April 12, 2021, Kastusiou was reported to have been arrested by the
Belarusian KGB as part of its crackdown on protestors following the results of the
2020 Belarusian presidential election. Officially Kastusiou and BPF members were accused of trying to organise an illegal coup (in which president Alexander Lukashenko was to be assassinated); the Russian
FSB together with the KGB have claimed their arrests did prevent the coup to happen.
[One of the defendants in the "assassination attempt on Lukashenko" case is seeking refugee status in Ukraine]
Ukrayinska Pravda
''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...
(6 May 2021) On September 5, 2022, Kastusiou was sentenced to 10 years in jail by the
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
Regional Court.
Presidential elections
Legislative elections
International relations
The party became an associate member of the
International Democrat Union
The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an international alliance of centre-right political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 full and associate members from 65 countries. It is chaired by Stephen Harper, ...
in 2007.
It was an observer member of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
until 2017. Since 7 April 2017 the party is a member of the
Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe
The European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), formerly known as Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) (2009–2016) and Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) (2016–2019), is a conservativ ...
.
[Welcome to our new member parties](_blank)
/ref> Its youth wing, BPF Youth, is a member of the European Young Conservatives
The European Young Conservatives (EYC) is a grouping of youth wings of conservative and centre-right political parties in Europe.
As of 2014, the group has a membership of 25 political youth organisations from 22 different countries and territori ...
.
Chairman
* 2022–Current Vadzim Sarančukoŭ
*2017–2022: Ryhor Kastusioŭ
*2009–2017: Alaksiej Janukievich
Alaksiej Janukievich ( be, Аляксей Янукевіч, born June 30, 1976) is a Belarusian politician and leader of the Partyja BNF political party.
Biography
Janukievich graduated from the Belarusian State Economic University in 1997.
...
*2007–2009: Lyavon Barshchewski
Lyavon Barshchewski ( be, Лявон Баршчэўскі) (born March 4, 1958) is a Belarusian philologist and opposition politician.
Born on March 4, 1958 in Polotsk, Barshchewski graduated from Minsk State Linguistic University in 1980. He was ...
["Belarusian Popular Front elects new chairman"]
*1999–2007: Vincuk Viačorka
Valiancin; russian: Винцук, translit=Vintsuk) is a diminutive form of Valancin. Ryhoravič Viačorka ( be, Валянцін Рыгоравіч Вячорка, , russian: Валентин Григорьевич Вечёрко, translit=V ...
See also
*Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic
The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic ( be, Рада Беларускай Народнай Рэспублікі, Рада БНР, Rada BNR) was the governing body of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Since 1919, the Rada BNR has bee ...
- the Belarusian government in exile
*Conservative Christian Party – BPF
The Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian People's Front ( be, Кансэрватыўна-Хрысьціянская Партыя - БНФ, Kanservatyŭna-Chryścijanskaja Partyja BNF; russian: Консервативно-христиан ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1988 establishments in Belarus
1988 establishments in the Soviet Union
Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe member parties
Belarusian opposition
Belarusian nationalism
Conservative parties in Belarus
International Democrat Union member parties
Political parties established in 1988
Political parties in Belarus
Popular fronts in the Soviet Union
Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union
Pro-European political parties in Belarus
Right-wing parties in Europe
Right-wing politics in Belarus
Liberal conservative parties