BELARUS: Belarus tells West: Recognise parliamentary elections, or no talks; Belarus opposition averts split, stays in elections

Record ID: 644599

  • Title: BELARUS: Belarus tells West: Recognise parliamentary elections, or no talks; Belarus opposition averts split, stays in elections
  • Date: 23rd September 2008
  • Summary: (CEEF) MINSK, BELARUS (SEPTEMBER 21, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OPPOSITION MEMBERS OUTSIDE BUILDING WHERE UNITED CIVIC PARTY MEETING IS TAKING PLACE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) OPPOSITION MEMBER OF UNITED CIVIC PARTY, ANATOLY LEBEDKO, SAYING: "Yes, the decision has been made. And in that decision it is fixed that we will never recognise this election campaign as just or legitimate. When in the commissions where they count votes, there are only a tiny percentages of people who represent alternative candidates, so you can say that there will not be elections. There will be the familiar, usual falsification and appointment of deputies. We need an election by the people and not appointments by Lukashenko." VARIOUS OF OPPOSITION MEMBERS TALKING OUTSIDE BUILDING VARIOUS OF OPPOSITION MEMBERS SEATED AHEAD OF MEETING LEBEDKO ADDRESSING MEETING OPPOSITION MEMBERS AT MEETING
  • Embargoed: 8th October 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belarus
  • Country: Belarus
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABJPGFKD0PRN0XSRCAA3RX66KL
  • Story Text: Belarus' President Lukashenko has said he will cease dialogue with the West if they fail to recognise next weekend's parliamentary election. The country's opposition, meanwhile, has overcome division and agreed not to boycott the vote.
    Belarus will cease all dialogue with Western countries if they fail to recognise the ex-Soviet state's parliamentary election, President Alexander Lukashenko said on Saturday (September 20).
    Lukashenko, long accused by the West of human rights abuses, has staked his hopes on the September 28 vote as a way to improve ties with the United States and the European Union, which see it as a test of Belarus' democratic credentials.
    No poll in Belarus since the mid-1990s has been judged free and fair in the West. Most opposition hopefuls have been allowed on the ballot this time and hundreds of Western observers are attending.
    But opposition officials say they have been denied access to commissions overseeing the count and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says the campaign has failed to give voters a clear idea of issues or candidates.

    "If even this time our election turns out to be undemocratic - in inverted commas - and someone in the West doesn't like it, we will cease all discussions with them," Lukashenko said.
    He said authorities had bent over backwards to stage an election that would win approval.

    "We're not simply conduting these elections here in Belarus by constitutional law, we are breaking a whole series of our own laws and conducting elections the way it is understood by the OSCE and the Western observers. They come and say 'there aren't many candidates on television', they come and say such and such is necessary. We immediately do as they say.
    We do it specially. And let's just see how they react. It is unprecedented, not in that they're democratic elections, they are unprecedented elections according to the West's rules," he added.
    Lukashenko said he would be happy to see opposition candidates in parliament to temper Western criticism, but expressed doubt they could win over enough voters to capture any of the 110 seats.

    "Honestly, we are doing it specially. And whoever wins, wins. I said immediately I will not lead the opposition into parliament by the hand.
    If I win, I'll be there, if not, what can you do," he said.
    Lukashenko has been accused of hounding the opposition and muzzling the media during 14 years in power.
    An interim report issued on Friday by the OSCE, Europe's biggest rights and security body, said there was little evidence of full-fledged campaigning.
    State media, it said, offered few opportunities for debate, with most airtime devoted to praise for the authorities.
    No campaign posters enliven the streets of Minsk, only a handful of leaflets have been distributed and few candidate meetings have been held.
    State television has generally limited coverage to five-minute candidate spots as required by law. The OSCE, which is dispatching hundreds of observers, says a dull campaign has failed to give voters a clear idea of issues or candidates.
    Belarus' disparate liberal and nationalist opposition, frequently beset by internal rows, was shut out of parliament in a 2004 poll.
    On Sunday (September 21), however, they overcame divisions and agreed not to boycott the election.
    A council of the disparate groups making up the opposition said it would proceed with the campaign despite calls by some activists for a boycott.

    "Yes the decision has been made (to take part in the elections)", said veteran opposition figure Anatoly Lebedko of the United Civic Party. But he added that despite this, they would never recognise the election campaign as just or legitimate.
    About 70 opposition candidates have been allowed on the ballot for 110 seats, far more than in previous elections.
    But activists complain that they have been denied access to commissions overseeing the count at polling stations.

    "When in the commissions where they count votes, there are only a tiny percentages of people who represent alternative candidates, so you can say that there will not be elections. There will be the familiar, usual falsification and appointment of deputies. We need an election by the people and not appointments by Lukashenko," Lebedko said.
    The opposition has enjoyed backing in the West. But some activists say they have already felt a reduction of influence and funding with the prospect that this poll will be recognised by Western countries.
    Lukashenko, however, remains barred from the United States and EU over allegations he rigged his re-election in 2006, a result that sparked protests which were broken up by police.
    He has sought to improve ties with Washington and the EU after quarrelling with traditional ally Russia last year over energy prices.
    Belarussian courts last month released the last detainees deemed by the West to be political prisoners.
    The president has said for months that he hopes opposition candidates win a few seats to blunt Western criticism. But he suggested his opponents, often divided and with very little support outside the capital, might not muster enough votes.
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