Lidziya YarmoshynaThe results of the parliamentary elections in Belarus were announced. “109 MPs were elected in the first round. An MP was not elected only at Homel-Navabelitskaya election constituency”, said Lidziya Yarmoshyna, the chairperson of the Central Election Commission (left).

The only reason for non-election was that a pro-government candidate, Lukashenka’s former advisor Prakapenka, withdrew from the election in Navabelitsa, and only one nominee of the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus was left in this constituency. According to Yarmoshyna, elections were valid in the constituency, but the people massively voted against the remaining candidate.

“The re-elections will be held. Most probably, they will be combined with local elections”, said the CEC Chairperson. 

In other districts candidates were elected in the first round. Thus, the new Parliament contains no representatives of the opposition.

However, representatives of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party said that the elections to the House of Representatives failed to fulfil a 50 per cent voter turnout requirement. The final report on the elections compiled by BCD estimates the overall turnout across Belarus as 44.7%, with even lower numbers – 39.4% – in Minsk.

“Thus, in general, the “elections” in the country failed. Besides, according to independent observers, nearly 18% of voters were forced to vote during early voting and it is highly possible they would not have participated in the elections if they were not forced to”, the BCD representatives said.

At the same time, according to the CEC, voter turnout across Belarus was 74.3%. Commenting on information of independent observers about the overstatement of the turnout by members of election commissions, Yarmoshyna claimed that the only source the CEC trusted were the protocols of election commissions.

Observers do not trust the elections

Independent observers mention numerous violations during the early voting, as well as various machinations through which the electoral commissions increased turnout at polling stations. Activists of the campaign “For Fair Elections” called the current parliamentary campaign the “most shameless” compared with the previous ones, primarily referring to the obstacles that authorities created for democratic candidates and observers of the opposition.

According to the representative of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party Dzianis Sadouski, for the first time in the electoral history of Belarus the so-called “carousel”, obviously borrowed from Russia, was used. This is the method of falsification when hired people visit different polling stations as voters, and vote a few dozen times, thus giving the appearance of high voter turnout. Sometimes the “carousel” participants get coupons for free meals in the cafeterias which are usually set up at polling stations in Belarus.

In the meantime, the CEC Chairperson Lidziya Yarmoshyna claims that only two official complaints were received during early voting. In his turn, Siarhei Kaliakin Siarhei Kaliakin(right), Head of the Belarusian Left Party “The Just World”, argues that the “For Fair Elections” campaign alone lodged more than a hundred complaints, and the total number of all the complaints could be at least two times higher.

According to Kaliakin, independent observers were denied the information about the number of people who voted during early voting at 239 polling stations, and serious discrepancy between the numbers was discovered – in some cases the number of voters was 1000 people lower.

Numerous facts of forcing to vote earlier were also recorded. This practice concerns primarily non-local students of Minsk universities who were sent out of the capital on Friday and even got a day-off on Monday. As a result, in some educational establishments the turnout was 95%.

Workers of large enterprises were also made to vote early. Many workers asked the precinct election commission members to issue them certificates proving that they had voted, which they were to show their administration at work. This can be regarded as forced voting.

The opposition does not trust the elections

Five opposition parties and movements made a joint statement on the elections to the House of Representatives. The statement was signed by representatives of the Belarusian Popular Front, the Belarusian Left Party “The Just World”, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada), the “For Freedom” movement and the “Tell the truth” civil campaign.

In their view, the parliamentary elections in Belarus can not be called transparent and democratic, as the government intervened in the electoral process, as well as put pressure on opposition candidates and their supporters.

Opposition members also claim that during the early voting facts of mass pressure on persons who are dependent on the government through getting education in public educational institutions or working at state enterprises were revealed. The opposition drew attention to the use of censorship, including the removal of recorded performances of registered candidates from the air. The fact that there were arrests of participants of the pickets held in places authorized by law was also mentioned.

After enumerating the violations which took place during the campaign, the leaders of the five political parties and organizations have made a conclusion, which was announced by chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front Aliaksei Yanukevich (left):

“All of that already gives us the right, regardless of the outcome of the vote that will be announced by [election] commissions that lack representatives of opposition organizations, not to recognize the 2012 elections to the House of Representatives as equal, transparent and democratic. We appeal also to international organizations of which Belarus is a member to step up pressure on the country’s authorities for the purpose of ending political repression and securing the release of the political prisoners”.

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