The opposition Belarusian Party of Communists (BPC) may be renamed the Spravedlivy Mir (Just World) Belarusian Party of the United Left.
At its closed-door meeting held on Sunday, the BPC Central Committee decided to submit the new name for consideration at the second session of the party’s special convention to be held in Minsk on October 25.
Participants at the first session of the convention, which was held in the Culture Palace of the Minsk Tractor Works on May 23, voted in favor of Mr. Kalyakin's leadership and approved a proposal to rename the party.
The gathering, by preferential voting, picked three possible names that were to be submitted for consideration by the party’s grass-roots chapters.
The name "Belarusian Party of the Left" won the largest number of votes, with the other two names being "Party of Democracy and Justice" and "Radzima (Motherland) Party."
"The Central Committee decided to make a compilation of those three names,"Valery Ukhnalyow, secretary of the Committee, told BelaPAN. "The new name reflects the fact that we are on the left wing of the spectrum of political forces in the country. We also hope that our party will be joined by people from other organizations or parties that will fail to obtain state registration. As for "Spravedlivy Mir" we believe this is a synonym for a just communist society that our party aims to achieve, according to its charter."
