The history of the consolidation of democratic forces in Belarus is long and complicated . The first time when leaders of democratic parties showed the will for political cooperation was when Belarus was facing the threat of an anti-Consitutional referendum, which had been announced by Alexander Lukashenko in 1996.
The clearly authoritarian by nature project of the Constitution, suggested by the Belarusian president, was aiming to concentrate the whole state power in the hands of one person. Leaders of Belarusian parties addressed, with a joint appeal, the people of Belarus, warning about the coming dictatorship. That appeal became the first political document of the joint democratic opposition.
After the referendum, which led to the destruction of democratic institutions, oppositional forces came to the understanding of the necessity to put aside disagreements about the strategy of the country's development and to unite forces in reaching the joint political goal - restoration of democracy in Belarus.
The Coordination Council of oppositional political parties was created, which started to coordinate joint activities of the democratic forces in their fight with the dictatorship.
The presidential elections of 2001 became an important stage in the process of democratic unification. Democratic forces managed to agree about a single candidate for the presidency - Vladimir Gonsharik. However, the mistake of that period was that the candidate was selected too late (less then a month before the elections) and by a narrow circle of political leaders.
The current political campaign, aimed at the presidential elections in 2006, has learned of the mistakes of previous years.
In January 2004 the civic initiative "Five plus" was created. It was a coalition of six pro-democratic parties (Belarusian Green Party, Belarusian Labour Party, Belarusian Social-Democratic Gromada, United Civil Party, Belarusian National Front and the Party of Communists of Belarus), leading non-governmental organizations and independent labour unions. A common strategy for the coming elections was adopted, as well as a joint list of candidates and a common program (Five Steps to a Better Life).
At the same time the "European Coalition" was created in Belarus, the core of which consisted of the Belarusian Womens' Party "Nadzeya", the Belarusian Social-Democratic Party (Narodnaya Gromada) and the non-registered organization "Youth Front".
In December 2004 "Five plus" and the "European Coalition" agreed to lead a presidential campaign with one candidate, a common political platform and one election team. The Constantly Acting Consultation (CAC) of the democratic forces was created, uniting leading political parties and NGOs.
CAC has defined the procedure of the selection of the single candidate. In April-May 2005 conferences of the joint democratic forces were held in both Minsk and the regions. The democratic representations defined names of 4 challengers for the role of single candidate. In June-August 2005 delegates for the Congress of the Democratic Forces of Belarus were elected at regional and city meetings of democratic organizations. It was decided that the participation in the Congress would be additionally open to democratic members of the last two convocations of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, candidates of the parliamentary elections to the House of Representatives in 2004 from "Five plus" and the "European Coalition", representatives of the pro-democratic NGOs, the group of democratic members of local councils, editors-in-chief of independent media as well as some other influential Belarusian politicians and leaders of public opinion.
Four challengers for the role of single candidate have taken public responsibility to support four program principles of the joint democratic forces of Belarus. In case of a victory at the presidential elections each of them guarantees:
Each of the four candidates has as well taken a responsibility to work for the victory of any politician, elected as a single candidate by the Congress.
The understanding is developing in the democratic movement of Belarus that there is no alternative to joint efforts in combating the dictatorship. The Congress is called to unite all Belarusian citizens, who have a joint goal - building an independent democratic Belarus.