BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/03/2006

A dictator's 're-election'

The New York Times

As anybody who observed politics in the old Soviet Union knows, sending voters to the polls does not guarantee a real election.

Democracy is about choice, not marching off to reaffirm the status quo. That is why Sunday brought the dismal news that Aleksandr Lukashenko, often called Europe's last dictator, had declared himself "re-elected" as president of Belarus with almost 83 percent of the vote.

Leaders in Russia and other ex-Soviet states cheered at getting word of their authoritarian ally's being returned for a third term, but the vote in Belarus has been widely challenged by reputable international observers as tainted and undemocratic. Western governments, including the Bush administration, have taken the right step in calling for new elections. Now it is up to those pro-democracy forces to keep a close watch on Lukashenko and how he treats the beleaguered opposition.

It had been apparent for weeks that this election would be what Aleksandr Milinkevich, the leading opposition candidate, rightly labeled a fraud. Days before the vote, three independent newspapers were forced to shut down after their Russian printing plant suddenly refused to cooperate.

Opposition campaign workers were harassed and arrested, and some jailed until after the election. One prominent opposition leader, threatened with the serious charge of promoting terrorism if he took to the streets, was arrested Tuesday near the protests.

The crowds have thinned in the huge October Square in central Minsk, but that is more a reaction to fear tactics than a fair representation of Lukashenko's real opposition. Although he does have support among those who crave stability above all, Lukashenko has staged a landslide victory as hollow as that of any other tyrant.

As anybody who observed politics in the old Soviet Union knows, sending voters to the polls does not guarantee a real election.

Democracy is about choice, not marching off to reaffirm the status quo. That is why Sunday brought the dismal news that Aleksandr Lukashenko, often called Europe's last dictator, had declared himself "re-elected" as president of Belarus with almost 83 percent of the vote.

Leaders in Russia and other ex-Soviet states cheered at getting word of their authoritarian ally's being returned for a third term, but the vote in Belarus has been widely challenged by reputable international observers as tainted and undemocratic. Western governments, including the Bush administration, have taken the right step in calling for new elections. Now it is up to those pro-democracy forces to keep a close watch on Lukashenko and how he treats the beleaguered opposition.

It had been apparent for weeks that this election would be what Aleksandr Milinkevich, the leading opposition candidate, rightly labeled a fraud. Days before the vote, three independent newspapers were forced to shut down after their Russian printing plant suddenly refused to cooperate.

Opposition campaign workers were harassed and arrested, and some jailed until after the election. One prominent opposition leader, threatened with the serious charge of promoting terrorism if he took to the streets, was arrested Tuesday near the protests.

The crowds have thinned in the huge October Square in central Minsk, but that is more a reaction to fear tactics than a fair representation of Lukashenko's real opposition. Although he does have support among those who crave stability above all, Lukashenko has staged a landslide victory as hollow as that of any other tyrant.

Source:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/22/opinion/edbelarus.php

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