Mikoła Buhaj: Mouse Fuss is Not Politics

Election leaflet of the coalition "Łatuška and "Movement for Freedom" for the 2026 Coordination Council elections. Photo: Nasha Niva

I swore I wouldn't write about these elections to the Coordination Council, because I and all my friends in Belarus are completely indifferent to it, but I am still compelled to offer my two cents. Juraś Hubarevič, leader of the "For Freedom" movement and a member of the Coordination Council, tempted me by writing on Facebook:

«Being within the legal framework of the EU, it is very difficult to be torn between two options: the desire to play along (fulfill an order?) with the regime and the possibility of facing legal action in court for spreading unreliable information (any coincidences are accidental)».

A transparent hint at a "Nasha Niva" publication, in which we drew attention to the fact that voter verification was entrusted to a company with Russian roots and a history of leaks.

It is wrong to see a conspiracy in everything that does not align with your position or interests.

If someone dislikes something, it doesn't mean that someone is doing it with malicious intent. And people went to protests for money, sure.

Jury, it's simple. As soon as Pavieł Liber named the company, our journalist decided to check what it was about.

This is our task as media — to check everything we can. People donate to us for this, not for campaigning for happiness.

Of course, it would have been better if that publication had appeared earlier, but Liber named the company in the interview when he did — on May 7, on the eve of the elections. Journalists are not telepaths.

Our job is to warn. It is the organizers' job to decide what to do with what journalists have revealed. If you think it's normal to entrust document verification to Sumsub — that it is reliable, that it offered the most advantageous option in terms of price and quality — well, OK.

It is not the media's fault that few people participate in the CC elections. It is simply impossible to achieve mass voter participation in such elections under conditions of mass repression.

It's not the media — it's your problem, and in general, the problems are not what you perceive them to be.

The small number of participants opens up space for manipulation. It is not difficult for special services to order five hundred ideologists to vote. There is no technical possibility to reject such votes — we have secret ballots, and what, are they not citizens of Belarus? — and the expression of will will be radically distorted. And afterwards you will have to think about how to get out of it and what to explain to society if the most awkward electoral list suddenly has to be declared the supposed winner.

These are not primaries in European countries and the USA, under conditions of free competition, which take place with the participation of a large number of people and with the use of a conventional network of election commissions.

Or another potential ticking time bomb. Ordinary people avoid participating in the election commissions of such campaigns as the CC, because special services gladly promote their agents to any such positions. The history of Mielnikava became a wild disgrace and should have taught even the dull-witted. But the problem is that mechanisms to prevent such infiltration simply do not exist in our conditions.

Perhaps the CC is needed. I don't see any practical sense in it, but you, politicians, know better: if you think you need it, keep it. Perhaps resolutions on the situation in Venezuela actually look more representative to you when adopted specifically in the name of a "proto-parliament". However, are elections necessary if no one wants to vote in them?

Structures for coordinating society's actions and for representing Belarus are needed, but at this stage, it is better to form them based on some other, more realistic principle.

Did the beautiful idea of universal elections to the CC not work? Then, look for other ways to organize the process of selecting delegates. Otherwise, in two years, the number of voters will equal the number of those willing to be elected to the CC.

The Congress of Democratic Forces consisted of representatives from real structures and communities, proven by their deeds. And somehow the structure worked. But the primaries, even in the more favorable conditions of 2020, completely failed. The primaries took place, people spent time, money was spent, but no candidate emerged from them. Who better than Jury Hubarevič to remember that. I never thought I would have to argue with him someday.

Two years ago I wrote, and this remains relevant:

«Why mobilize now? Under conditions of repression that neither Belarusian society nor its Western allies can stop or even mitigate, people strive to protect themselves and preserve as much as possible. And such an approach is rational. In such conditions, it would be irrational, on the contrary, to expose more and more people to repression. That gives nothing to anyone.

Now is the time to quietly multiply any quiet, non-public, unpretentious efforts that help Belarus remain Belarusian, and Belarusians — remain Belarusians, to live and work. Times are changing, and politics must also change with them.»

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