The Belarusian Social Democratic Party "Hramada" (BSDP) will face an order to vacate its office in Minsk, leader Anatol Lyawkovich told BelaPAN.
Earlier this year, a housing cooperative filed a suit with the Minsk City Economic Court seeking the party’s eviction from its office. The office, which the BSDP has rented from the cooperative for a few years, is the party’s legal address, as well as the address of its Minsk city chapter and four Minsk district chapters.
Earlier this month, representatives of the party and the plaintiff, as well as a court-appointed mediator held a meeting but no agreement was reached, according to Mr. Lyawkovich.
"We have to vacate the office. I think that the court has already made an appropriate decision," the politician said. In the event of eviction, the party will find itself in a very difficult situation. "Finding a new legal address is extremely problematic. Under the law, the loss of the legal address entails the party’s liquidation," Mr. Lyawkovich said.
He noted that the party could be forced to register its new legal address outside Minsk. "We’ve had our central office registered in Minsk only in the past two years. Our legal address had been in Brest and Pukhavichy for eight years before. It will be very difficult to find a suitable office rent opportunity in Minsk," the BSDP leader predicted.
