Belarus Poll: Ruling party corners all seats.

by Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

(October 01, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Belarus (or BeloRussia meaning white Russia), one of the fifteen republics of the former Soviet Union that collapsed in early 1990s, went to the polls on 28 September, electing deputies to the lower chamber of parliament - the House of Representatives. All 110 seats went to pro-government candidates while opposition candidates in Belarus have failed to win any seat in the parliamentary elections, the chief of the central elections commission Ms Lidia Yermoshina said turnout was 75%. At least 500 opposition supporters held a peaceful protest rally against the possible poll outcome in the capital Minsk after the polls closed late on 28 Sept. Many in the crowd carried white-and-red nationalist flags and also EU flags.

Belarus parliament has been wihtout opposion for quite sme now and will continue to do so as the oppostion failed to amek any impact on thenation about its program.President Lukashenko has effectively reduced the House of Representatives to a rubber stamp by limiting its power. All 110 seats are currently occupied by supporters of Lukashenko. Nominally, the lower chamber has the right to throw out bills, impeach the president and reject prime-ministers-designate nominated by the president. Despite signs of a thaw in relations with the West and Minsk's efforts to demonstrate democratic standards, the election was not expected to challenge President Alexander Lukashenko.

Not Legitimate

The opposition says the parliamentary vote was not legitimate, urging international observers not to recognize the outcome, but country's President Alexander Lukashenko insists the poll was free and fair. Lukashenko says he expects the election to lead to better relations between the former Soviet republic and the West. Anatoly Lebedko, leader of the opposition United Civil Party said there was no election in Belarus. It was an electoral farce for the West. "We call on the EU and the US not to recognize the results of the election". Opposition groups also say that they were not allowed to monitor voting properly. They say that advance voting - which began on Tuesday - gave the government an opportunity to cheat. The authorities deny the accusation.

In a bid to appease his critics, the president ordered some opponents to be freed from prison and allowed about 70 opposition candidates to stand. Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are due to give their assessment of the election later on Monday. Past polls have been seriously flawed, and Lukashenko - who has been in power since 1994 - has been condemned by the US as the "last dictator" in Europe and Belarus as the last “outpost of tyranny” in Europe.

Belarus invited hundreds of foreign observers, and a total of 205 are registered by the electoral commission. Electoral Commission chief Yarmoshyna has repeatedly stated that Belarus will do its best to hold the election in full compliance with OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) standards. The campaign has been lacklustre. Election coverage in the official media has been limited to repetitive reports from the Central Electoral Commission and bland five-minute addresses by candidates on local television and radio. The biggest scandal was the decision of five United Civic Party candidates in Minsk to withdraw over publishers' refusals to produce their campaign leaflets, which the party regards as government meddling in the election. The opposition and human rights watchdogs say the vote will be neither free nor fair.

A survey by Belarus' most respected independent pollster suggested 39.6% would vote for Lukashenko-backed candidates, and 17.7% for the opposition. Deputies are elected for a four-year term in a first-past-the-post system in 110 single-seat constituencies. Winning candidates must poll more than half the votes cast in their constituency. If not, run-off elections are held within two weeks between the two leading candidates. The opposition has united into two blocs for the election. Most opposition groups boycotted the 2000 election but stood for parliament in 2004 - with no success. Pro-democracy forces have little or no access to state mass media and there are no independent TV or radio stations available in Belarus that carry unbiased news, apart from the Polish-funded satellite TV channel Belsat, which is watched by few Byelorussians.
The parties loyal to the authorities are the Communist Party of Belarus (12 candidates), the Liberal Democratic Party (nine), the Republican Party of Labour and Justice (three) and the Belarussian Agrarian Party (one). Most of the opposition hopefuls managed to secure registration. There are 276 candidates on the official list, including 83 members of political parties. A total of 99 candidates were either formally or informally linked with the opposition. Nearly 50 opposition hopefuls failed to pass the registration stage. Prominent opposition politicians who are standing include United Civic Party leader Anatoly Lebedko, Party of Communists of Belarus leader Sergei Kalyakin, Belarussian Social Democratic Party (Hramada) leader Anatoly Levkovich and former Belarussian head of state Stanislav Shushkevich.

Pro-government contenders include the deputy head of the presidential administration, Alexander Popkov, Vitebsk region governor Vladimir Andreichenko, Belarussian Railways chief Vladimir Zharelo and Mogilev region Deputy Governor Anatoly Glaz.

Lukashenko

Lukashenko has been trying to improve relations with the West as his country's ties cool with Russia. European and US diplomats had suggested that sanctions against Belarusian companies could be lifted if the election was conducted well. "If the election goes smoothly, the West will recognize Belarus," Lukashenko, banned from traveling to EU countries and the US, said after casting his vote. He later said that it would be hard for some 400 foreign observers not to judge the vote as free and fair.

Alexander Lukashenko's victory in the presidential elections in Belarus came as no surprise to opposition supporters or Western observers. Since sweeping to power 12 years ago, he has consolidated his hold on the former Soviet republic. His methods have brought criticism from the West - particularly the US Bush administration, which has described him as the "last dictator in Europe" at the head of an "outpost of tyranny". Lukashenko was able to seek re-election for an unprecedented third term thanks to a controversial referendum in 2004 that abolished the constitution's two-term presidential limit.

He warned that anyone joining an opposition protest would be treated as a "terrorist", adding: "We will wring their necks, as one might a duck". Human rights campaigners and Western governments complain that opposition voices are harassed and stifled and independent media has been all but eliminated. Opposition activists are closely monitored by the secret police - still called the KGB. However, the president does enjoy the support of many Byelorussians for maintaining political and economic stability - a campaign slogan in 2006

In August 1991, as a member of the Belarusian parliament, he declared his support for the attempted coup by hardliners against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. "An authoritarian style of rule is characteristic of me, and I have always admitted it," he said in August 2003. "You need to control the country, and the main thing is not to ruin people's lives." In 1996, he disbanded parliament, which had been seeking to impeach him, and also strengthened his control over the judiciary. It is an approach to power which has won Lukashenko few friends and even relations with Russia, Belarus’ chief ally, have appeared to cool since Moscow moved to end subsidized oil and gas supplies.

The EU and USA have welcomed signs of change in Belarus, such as the release of opposition figure Alexander Kozulin and two other activists from jail in the run-up to the poll. The US has suspended economic sanctions against two Belarusian exporters and said it is considering other goodwill gestures. The EU has also held high-level consultations on the possibility of lifting sanctions against Belarus. Russia has stuck to its traditional laissez-faire approach, regarding the election as a domestic Belarusian matter.

Failed to forge any storng union with former republics of the USSR, Russia is keen to form a Russia-Belarus Union State. Russia and Belarus have long been in talks on forming a "union state", however, not much progress has been made in the project on account of a few bottlenecks.

( Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal Research Scholar, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi can be reached at abdulruff_jnu@yahoo.com ) - Sri Lanka Guardian