The United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus (
Belarusian: Аб’яднаны пераходны кабінет Беларусі,
romanized: Abjadnany pierachodny kabiniet Biełarusi) is a
government in exile for
Belarus that was formed in August 2022.[1][2]
Creation
Following the disputed
2020 Belarusian presidential election, opposition forces, led by presidential candidate
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya formed a
Coordination Council to facilitate a transition to democracy in the country. Tsikhanouskaya and several other members of the council were forced to leave Belarus or were placed under arrest during
protests that broke out following the election.[3][4]
The United Transitional Cabinet was formed on 9 August 2022 during a two-day conference in
Vilnius after members of the Belarusian opposition requested Tsikhanouskaya to form "a united interim government".[2][5]
Aims and guidelines
The stated aims of the United Transitional Cabinet are as follows:[1]
"Defend the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus, represent the national interests of Belarus."
"Carry out the de facto de-occupation of Belarus."
"Restore constitutional legality and the rule of law."
"Develop and implement measures to thwart the illegal retention of power, ensure the transit of power from dictatorship to democracy, and create conditions for fair and free elections."
"Develop and implement the solutions needed to secure a democratic change in Belarus."
Activities
In August 2022, activities of the Cabinet included the preparation of legal documents to define structures, responsibilities,
decision-making methods, and selection of staff.[6] During a meeting with European Parliament President
Roberta Metsola, Tsikhanouskaya announced plans for the Cabinet to issue
alternative passports for Belarusians in 2024.[7]
The Cabinet issued some awards:
the Cross of Good Neighbourhood (Belarusian: Крыж добрасуседства, romanized: Kryž dobrasusedstva,
Russian: Крест добрососедства,
romanized: Krest dobrososedstva) - to be awarded to outstanding individuals who significantly help the cause of Belarusians. Recipients include
Roberta Metsola,
Stefan Eriksson and
Þórdís Gylfadóttir.[7][8][9]
The
European Parliament passed a resolution welcoming the formation of the United Transitional Cabinet on 24 November 2022.[12][13]
The
European Union did not recognise Lukashenko’s claimed victory in the 2020 presidential election in Belarus stating that
"These elections were neither free nor fair. The European Union considers their results falsified and therefore does not recognise the election results announced by the Central Election Commission of Belarus.[14]
Some leaders of the democratic movement in Belarus, including former presidential candidates, have not recognised the United Transitional Cabinet. Their main arguments are that no one elected the cabinet members, and therefore in their opinion the UTC does not represent the people.[15]
One former presidential candidate of 2010,
Andrei Sannikov, called the members of the cabinet "impostors".[15]
Another former presidential candidate for 2020
Valery Tsepkalo stated that both Tsikhanouskaya's office, the Cabinet and the
Coordination Council are "fake structures", "appointed by one person", because the Belarusian people did not participate in choosing the members of these structures and did not authorise them to develop programs.[16] They claim that many members of the cabinet are unknown in Belarus.[17]
On 30 August 2022, the
KGB designated the Cabinet as an extremist group.[18] A few months later, the Cabinet's
Telegram channel was added to the list of extremist materials.[19]
Members
Membership of the Cabinet is for a term of six months.[20] The members of the transitional cabinet are as follows:[21][1]
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and United Transitional Cabinet Representatives at a press conference in Warsaw (2 Dec 2022)