One of Belarus's leading opposition figures in exile, Paval Latushka, has announced he is quitting the presidium of the Coordination Council to avoid encouraging any change of strategy that could include dialogue with strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime or a softening of sanctions.
The announcement came ahead of an expected vote by the Coordination Council's leadership on February 26.
In a Euroradio interview on February 25, Latushka said in a reference to the Coordination Council and the United Transitional Cabinet -- which was formed in August in Vilnius with Latushka ally and exiled opposition presidential candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya in charge -- that "two voices" will confuse the Belarusian opposition's international partners.
Latushka said he was unhappy with any tack toward dialogue and was "in favor of waging a struggle." He suggested there was "an underground movement" inside the country and a "Belarusian proto-army" abroad.
Latushka is in Warsaw following the jailing, persecution, or expulsion of virtually all major opposition leaders amid a crackdown after a flawed presidential election in 2020.
Many Western governments have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka's claim of victory. The United States and the EU have also imposed sanctions over the brutal crackdown to quell unprecedented street protests.
Lukashenka has jailed thousands and rejected specific steps to usher in greater democracy in Belarus, while relying more heavily on the persecution of dissent and support from neighboring Russia to keep his grip on power.
Latushka and three associates are being tried in Minsk in absentia along with Tsikhanouskaya for challenging the results of that election, after which Lukashenka claimed a sixth term as president.
Tsikhanouskaya is accused of high treason, the organization of mass disorder, the creation of an extremist group, inciting hatred, plotting to seize power, and calls for international sanctions against Belarus.
Latushka, and the other defendants -- Maryya Maroz, Volha Kavalkova, and Syarhey Dylevski -- have been charged with public calls for sanctions against Belarus, inciting hatred, bribe-taking, and creating an extremist group.
All six are members of the Coordination Council.
Latushka became chairman of the opposition's People's Anti-Crisis Leadership group, which was initially formed in late 2020 as a sort of "shadow government" to help usher in a transition of power from Lukashenka.
Late last year, he was put in charge of the transition for the United Transitional Cabinet.