The Belarusian Social Democratic Party "Narodnaya Hramada" will hold the second session of its founding conference at the end of the year, most likely in November, Mikalay Statkevich, chairman of the founding committee for the opposition party, told BelaPAN, commenting on the committee's August 15 meeting.
"A specific date has not yet been set because the organizers may have trouble renting a venue," he said.
At the first session in November 2007, "Narodnaya Hramada" decided to hold the second session of the conference within two years, he said. Ever since, the party has formally existed as an organizing committee, which protected its activists from criminal prosecution for acting on behalf of an unregistered organization, Mr. Statkevich said.
Participants at the session will decide whether or not to apply for state registration, he said. "Technically, we can do what it takes to obtain the registration," Mr. Statkevich said. "However, there is no hope of getting registered in our political environment. What's more, by submitting the lists of our founders to the justice ministry, we would do harm to our people. The KGB would immediately know their names. That’s why I think we should rather not file a registration application now. But the final decision will be made by the delegates at the conference."
