Belarus opposition abandons differences for rally

MINSK, Aug 14 (Reuters) Leaders of Belarus's disparate opposition vowed today to cast aside their differences and work together to stage a major autumn rally against President Alexander Lukashenko.

Lukashenko, in power since 1994, is accused by Western countries of crushing basic rights and rigging elections, including his landslide re-election last year to a third term.

But he remains broadly popular and says his tough stand on opposition and mix of state subsidies and selected privatisation has propped up living standards and spared his countrymen the upheavals of other ex-Soviet states.

The opposition, a mix of liberals and nationalists, achieved rare unity for last year's poll by backing liberal academic Alexander Milinkevich only to split afterwards.

But leaders today vowed to bring together 10,000 supporters in an Oct 14 ''European march'' before next year's parliamentary election.

''Talk of a split in our ranks is greatly exaggerated,'' Milinkevich said after opposition parties agreed to the march.

''We will find common ground. There is much we can do together. Our joint aim is to live in a democracy. We must show that our main concern is the country, not getting jobs in the government,'' he told Reuters.

Anatoly Lebedko, another opposition leader, said there could be no token gestures. ''There is no point in joining hands for a photograph. We have to focus on people working together.'' Milinkevich rejected a decision at an opposition congress last May to install a collective leadership. He said voters, already lukewarm to the opposition, would not understand the move and he went on to form his own movement.

The proclamation of Lukashenko's victory last year with 83 percent of the vote prompted mass demonstrations in Minsk, broken up by police only after four days.

The United States and European Union have barred entry to Lukashenko and demand concrete steps to entrench democratic institutions. Lukashenko has quarrelled since the New Year with Russia over energy prices and called for better ties with the West, but rejects any notion that he flouts international norms.

Opposition leaders hope higher energy prices will hit consumers hard and prompt the government to hold a dialogue.

Milinkevich, who favours intensified street protests, said dialogue with the authorities was possible ''only when it feels we are an equal force. And for the moment we are not.'' Analyst Alexander Klaskovsky said the opposition was, for the moment, unlikely to score well in next year's poll.

''For now, there is very little tension in the country to prompt the authorities to make concessions and change electoral law,'' he said. ''If there is no such tension or collapse in the economy, the election will be little more than a ritual.'' Reuters RSA DB2330