Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus

The Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus (Belarusian: Ліберальна-дэмакратычная партыя Беларусі, Russian: Либерально-демократическая партия Беларуси, romanized: Liberal'no-demokraticheskaya partiya Belarusi), or ЛДПБ (LDPB), is a political party in Belarus. It was created in 1994 as the Belarusian successor of the Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union.

Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus
Ліберальна-дэмакратычная партыя Беларусі
Либерально-демократическая партия Беларуси
AbbreviationLDPB (English)
ЛДПБ
LeaderOleg Gaidukevich
FoundersVasily Krivenko
Sergei Gaidukevich
Founded5 February 1994 (1994-02-05)
Registered24 February 1994 (1994-02-24)
Preceded byLiberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union in Belarus
Headquarters12th Building, Filimonova St, Minsk, Belarus
NewspaperTruth of Gaidukevich
Membership (2020)55,867
Ideology
Political positionRight-wing
Regional affiliationLiberal Democratic Party of Russia
Liberal Democratic Party of Transnistria
Colours  Navy blue
Slogan"Law! Order! Patriotism!"
(Russian: «Закон! Порядок! Патриотизм!»)
"A Strong Belarus!"
(Russian: «Сильная Беларусь!»)
House of Representatives
1 / 110
Council of the Republic
1 / 64
Regional seats
2 / 409
Local seats
4 / 18,110
Party flag
Website
ldpb.by

Despite claiming to be a "constructive and democratic opposition" the party de facto supports the current president, Alexander Lukashenko (much like the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia with Vladimir Putin).[2]

In the legislative elections, 13–17 October 2004, the party won 1 out of 110 seats.[3] Its candidate in the presidential election of 2006, Sergei Gaidukevich, won 3.5% of the vote.[4]

Party leader Gaidukevich was a member of the House of Representatives from 2004 to 2008.[5] He was later a member of the Council of the Republic from 2016 to 2019.[6]

Ideology

Despite the name, the party does not support liberalism or liberal democracy. Rather, according to political scientist Pippa Norris, the LDPB is an extremist party, dedicated to the restoration of the Soviet Union and Russian-Belarusian unionism. The party is opposed to NATO, the European Union and what it calls "international monopolies".[7] It gathers its main support from ex-servicemen mainly from the time of the Soviet Union, from nostalgics of the Soviet Union, and those who favor closer ties or even union with Russia; it is especially strong in Minsk, Vitebsk and some other regional cities.[7]

The LDPB has no democratic structure and was run by Sergei Gaidukevich from 1994 to 2019, when he was succeeded by his son Oleg Gaidukevich.[7][8] Its main domestic ally is the Belarusian Patriotic Party.[7]

Election results

Presidential elections
Election Candidate First round Second round Result
Votes % Votes %
1994 Endorsed Vyacheslav Kebich 1,023,174
17.33%
 748,329
14.17%
 Lost Red XN
2001 Sergei Gaidukevich 153,199
2.48%
 Lost Red XN
2006 Sergei Gaidukevich 230,664
3.48%
 Lost Red XN
2010 Sergei Gaidukevich Withdrew from the elections
2015 Sergei Gaidukevich 201,945
3.30%
 Lost Red XN
2020 Oleg Gaidukevich Withdrew from the elections, supported Alexander Lukashenko

Legislative elections
Election Leader Performance Rank Government
Votes % +/– Seats +/–
1995 Sergei Gaidukevich
0 / 260
 New 22th Extra-parliamentary
2000
1 / 110
 Increase 1 Increase 5th "Constructive opposition"
2004 122,605
2.01%
 New
1 / 110
 Steady 0 Increase 3rd "Constructive opposition"
2008 43,752
0.81%
 Decrease 1.20
0 / 110
 Decrease 1 Decrease 6th Extra-parliamentary
2012 249,455
4.76%
 Increase 3.95
0 / 110
 Steady 0 Increase 4th Extra-parliamentary
2016 218,081
4.24%
 Decrease 0.52
1 / 110
 Increase 1 Steady 4th "Constructive opposition"
2019 Oleg Gaidukevich 280,683
5.36%
 Increase 1.12
1 / 110
 Steady 0 Steady 4th "Constructive opposition"

See also

References
  1. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2008). "Belarus". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 2011-08-24.
  2. European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity Archived 2014-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook. Nomos. p. 252. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
  4. Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook. Nomos. p. 262. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
  5. "депутатов Палаты представителей Национального собрания Республики Беларусь третьего созыва 17 октября 2004 года" (PDF). ИТОГИ ВЫБОРОВ. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
  6. "Члены Савета Рэспублікі | Структура, парадак фарміравання, кампетэнцыя і формы работы Парламента".
  7. Norris, Pippa (2005). Radical Right: Voters and Parties in the Electoral Market. Cambridge University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-139-44642-6.
  8. "Либерально Демократическая Партия Беларуси". Репортёр Беларуси. 2021-01-13.
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