RUSSIA/BELARUS: Belarussian presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin accuses Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko of breaking laws

Record ID: 858080

  • Title: RUSSIA/BELARUS: Belarussian presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin accuses Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko of breaking laws
  • Date: 15th March 2006
  • Summary: (CEEF) MINSK, BELARUS (RECENT - MARCH 2, 2006) (REUTERS). ALEXANDER KOZULIN WALKING INTO BUILDING TO REGISTER FOR THE THIRD ALL BELARUS CONGRESS
  • Embargoed: 30th March 2006 13:00
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  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABWXW7WGCNXXGPLGIDENEWXR2T
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  • Story Text: An opposition candidate running in this month's presidential election in Belarus accused President Alexander Lukashenko, the former Soviet republic's long-time authoritarian ruler, of violating elections laws and "trampling" the country's constitution.
    Speaking at a news conference in Moscow on Monday (March 13), Alexander Kozulin asked why Russia as an ally of Belarus was not trying to use its influence to bear on Lukashenko and its administration.
    "It is absolutely clear that the presidential elections of 2001 and 2006 are significantly different. Today we can say unambiguously that the head of our country has trampled the Belarussian constitution, breaks Belarussian laws and violates election codes. The most surprising thing is that these issues (violations) have not become a subject of discussion with our main ally (Russia)," said Kozulin, who is one of three opposition candidates contesting next Sunday's (March 19) presidential elections.
    Lukashenko is seeking a third term after a referendum in 2004 changed the constitution to allow him to run again. Western governments condemned that vote as rigged, and opposition leaders charge that this month's election will also be fixed. They have promised street protests to follow the vote on the president's rule.
    Kozulin, a former academic who heads the Social Democratic Party, was beaten up in Minsk earlier this month as he tried to register as a delegate at the All-Belarussian People's Assembly, essentially a political rally for Lukashenko by 2,500 hand-picked delegates.
    According to opposition activists and journalists, guards declined to register or admit Kozulin. He refused to leave, and a brawl ensued when security converged on the candidate and his supporters. Kozulin and three of his campaign workers were bundled into a police van and taken away. Police later said that Kozulin smashed a portrait of Lukashenko at the police station where he was being held.
    Kozulin told reporters on Monday that Lukashenko had lost the support of the Belarussian people and the president would use all means to stay in office.
    "Today, we can clearly say that the election process is carried out according a bandit's scenario; our authorities have lost their support base; they have lost the trust of Belarussian people and they can only retain power by using force. But it is impossible to keep power at the point of a bayonet. Today I want to say that Lukashenko has no chance of being written in history as a positive personality, as a first president of Belarus; after the March 19 elections if he gives the impression of an elegant victory, of a landslide victory, he will become the last dictator in Europe and it will be obvious for everybody," added Kozulin.
    Lukashenko has promised that the opposition will be dismantled after the elections. The former collective farm manager, came to power in 1994, and critics often call him "Europe's last dictator."
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