BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

15/01/2007

Government loyalists appear to sweep local elections in Belarus

MINSK, Belarus (AP) - Government loyalists appeared to sweep local elections in Belarus, according to preliminary results released Monday, as President Alexander Lukashenko retained a firm grip over the ex-Soviet nation despite a bruising oil dispute with neighboring Russia.

Belarus opposition and human rights activists denounced Sunday's vote as rigged, and the United States and the European Union said it failed to meet democratic standards.

"There have been no free and fair elections in Belarus over the past decade, and these local elections weren't an exception," the main opposition leader, Alexander Milinkevich, told The Associated Press.

The U.S. Embassy said Monday it "deplores Belarus' flawed electoral process," and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said there was "a blatant lack of democratic pluralism" in the elections.

About 300 opposition members took part in the race, but about 100 of them withdrew before the voting, predicting widespread falsification in elections held under close state control. Under Lukashenko's authoritarian rule, television is under state control and few independent media are allowed.

Milinkevich, who ran against Lukashenko in a March 2006 presidential vote that was widely criticized in the West, said at least two opposition candidates had won seats in local legislatures.

Garry Pogonyailo, a lawyer with the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, also said that the authorities had done their utmost to prevent the opposition from winning any seats. "These elections were neither transparent nor fair," he said.

Pogonyailo pointed at early voting in which a quarter of voters cast ballots, saying the lack of proper controls allowed for abuses. He also said the authorities had refused to include opposition representatives in local election commissions that counted ballots.

Vyntsuk Vyacherka, the head of the opposition Belarusian Popular Front, said he would appeal what he called flawed election proceedings in Minsk, the capital, where he ran for a city council seat. "The authorities openly ignored election rules and standards," he said.

A U.S. Embassy statement said: "As in previous elections, the government of Belarus denied to its citizens their freedom of assembly, association and expression. Authorities used intimidation and arbitrary application of registration standards to exclude opposition candidates and severely restricted the access of registered candidates to voters and the mass media."

Central Election Commission spokeswoman Lidiya Yermoshina said 79 percent of the country's 7 million eligible voters cast ballots. She said 22,640 members of 1,581 local legislatures were elected, but added that it would take longer time to say how various political parties had performed.

Casting his ballot Sunday, Lukashenko hit out at Russia, which suspended oil shipments to Belarus last week in a dispute over prices, in what appeared to be an effort to bolster his image among Belarusians.

Belarus' Soviet-style, state-controlled economy has long relied on cheap Russian energy, which Lukashenko has used to buttress his popularity during his almost 13-year rule. But relations have deteriorated as the Kremlin has pushed for control of pipelines and other assets in return for support.

Belarus stands to lose billions of dollars (euros) a year from a doubling of Russian natural gas prices and the end of a privileged regime for Russian oil imports. It's officials already face EU and U.S. sanctions that were imposed because of Lukashenko's hard-line rule, which has all but quashed the opposition.

Source:

http://www.kyivpost.com/bn/25849/

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