BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/04/2006

Rosenallis man Larry observes how elections are run in Belarus

By: Majells O'Sullivan

THE FALLOUT from the recent presidential elections in Belarus is still being felt with the announcement this week that President Alexander Lukashenko and 30 of his ministers have been banned from entering the EU.

EU foreign ministers reached that decision in response to the elections in March, which they believe were rigged.

A team of 440 international observers from 38 different countries observed the voting and counting at polling stations all over Belarus on behalf of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Among them was Rosenallis man, Larry O'Loughlin.

Although the report by the OSCE, to which Larry was a contributor, was fairly damning, he still maintains that there were many positive aspects to the Belarusian system he observed while on duty in the city of Lida.

"When you're out observing an election you're not allowed operate with someone from the same country and all the observers are paired into groups of two. I was paired with a German," Larry explained.

The observers had a briefing session for two days in Minsk, which went through the rights of observers and what was expected of them. Then they were dispatched to the polling stations all over the country where they observed what was going on over the five days of the elections.

In Belarus there is a Central Election Commission, which is established by the Government. At regional level there are Territorial Election Commissions (similar to constituencies), which are again broken down to Precinct Electoral Commissions at local level, which organ-ise the polling stations.

"Our job was to be present at all the polling stations, which are dotted around the precinct and to observe, ask questions and ensure that the election process is taking place in a proper manner but we had to do that very discretely," he said.

Interestingly, the ballot paper contained five boxes; one for each of the four presidential candidates and a fifth box that gave people the option of not voting for any of them, a kind of controlled spoiled vote system. Each ballot paper is signed by the Precinct Electoral Commission, which is picked from the local community.

"It was extremely well organised and unlike Ireland, there was far more community spirit involved in the whole process and there is very much a local involvement in each polling station," Larry said.

Another dissimilarity to Ireland is the mobile voting system, which Larry explained is a bit like a mobile polling box that is brought around to people that are sick or don't have transportation to the polling station. There is also a sample ballot paper on display in the polling booth and some information on each candidate.

"On the morning of the poll we had to be there at 7.30am to observe the process right through until the poll closed that night. That goes right through to the last day and the sealing of the boxes and the opening of the boxes for the count," he continued.

The votes are counted on the spot but are then transferred to the regional stations where they are correlated. The polling stations are similar to what might be used here such as schools, community halls, universities or cultural centres.

"After some time we discovered that there was a list of names on the wall with dates and we later realised that this was a list of first time voters. Every new voter received a presentation from the local electoral committee and this was a good idea in terms of fostering a positive experience," he said.

"They put a huge emphasis on the process and the Sunday, which was the final day of polling, is very much a family occasion. They had music, concerts, food and it was like a community occasion, which was very conducive to people turning out to vote."

At the end of each day all the observers had to file a report to Minsk of their experiences that day and it was from these that the overall OSCE report was compiled.

Larry said that a lot of the problems the OSCE had with the elections took place before the polling began, when there were allegations of intimidation. He pointed out that President Alexander Lukashenko had to change the constitution to allow him to stand for a third term in office.

Of his own experience at the polling station in Lida he said they were treated extremely well and were very well received by the local committee whom they found to be very co-operative. He pointed out that there were also a number of domestic observers from trade unions, NGOs, youth groups or women's groups within Belarus.

There was also a facility for people to lodge a complaint with them but this never arose where he was stationed in Lida.

In contrast to Larry and the other observers' descriptions of the dayto-day business during the elections the OSCE report concluded that a positive assessment of the election was impossible.

Overall, the OSCE report stated that "the Belarusian people deserved better" and that "the courageous efforts of the opposition candidates to offer voters a genuine choice for president were obstructed by actions of the state authorities".

Mr Lukashenko was returned to office with 83% of the vote but the OSCE said the elections were severely flawed.

Source:

http://www.laois-nationalist.ie/news/story.asp?j=22679