With zero sense of irony, and equally blinkered regarding the possibility that this might strike back on themselves, Belarusian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement doubting the transparency and democracy of the recent presidential elections in the USA. The irregularities of the almost as recent presidential elections in Belarus are thoroughly documented on this website. (10-NOV-04)
On 4 November, the newspaper Moscow News wrote the following:
According to reports from independent observers and media representatives a number of violations were noticed in the course of preparations and during the elections, namely basic international obligations set by the 1990 Copenhagen Document of the OSCE, the press secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement circulated on Thursday. In particular, the official noted that the U.S. officials had not applied sufficient effort to get rid of the major shortcomings in the U.S. electoral system.
“This is why we are not surprised by reports that a large number of absentee ballots send by post have been lost, that the computer systems crash, that the voters are being threatened, that some voters cannot find themselves in voting lists, that it is impossible to get information on regional elections commissions and places where the voting was held,” the release reads.
Belarus observers and a number of observers representing NGOs have reported that the U.S. authorities had not ensured free work of the international observers and accreditation of such observers in some states turned out to be virtually impossible. The release also notes that in the states where the international observers had managed to get the accreditation, the local authorities restricted their rights by “unprecedented harsh demands.” Belarusian Foreign Ministry expressed its hope that the mission of international observers of the OSCE would cover the U.S. presidential elections “objectively and truthfully” and give its evaluation of the event.
