»» DEUTSCH

Report 1:	Human Rights Defenders start observation of local elections
Report 2:	The alterations to the Electoral Code
Report 3:	Few Members of the Opposition in the Local Election Commissions
Report 4:	Members of the Opposition Boycott the Elections
Report 5:	Registration of Candidates for the Local Councils
Report 6:	Only up to 365 Members of the Opposition Still Taking Part in the Election Campaign
Report 7:	Domestic Election Observers Criticise Unfair Election Campaign Conditions
Report 8:	Enormous levels of manipulation during the local elections in Belarus
Report 9:	Only ten representatives of opposition parties elected onto local councils
Final Report

03.06.2010

1. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In its “Temporary Monitoring Report on the 2010 Local Elections”, the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” has welcomed the amendments to the electoral code, which were adopted on 4th January in line with the demands of the ODIHR-OSCE and local experts. Of particular importance is the removal of several restrictions on the nomination and registration of candidates. However, the lack of transparency in the assessment of potential candidates’ applications continues to enable the election commissions to treat candidates critical of the regime in a discriminatory manner.

 In spite of the amendments to the electoral code, the domestic election observers see no substantial progress towards a democratisation of the election process. Similarly to during previous election campaigns, the 2010 local elections in Belarus were overshadowed by serious and systematic violations of democratic electoral standards. The most important amendments to the electoral code were mostly only formally put into practice or even not at all. During the entire election process, from the formation of the election commissions and the nomination of candidates up to the election campaign itself, enormous acts of manipulation were observed which disadvantaged those candidates critical of the regime. For example, local authorities and security services targeted candidates critical of the regime and their supporters with acts of repression. State companies and public institutions were directly involved in supporting the election campaign activities of candidates loyal to the regime. Activists and members of the opposition were put under pressure by their superiors at work or made redundant. State media provided barely any information about the elections and campaigned for candidates loyal to the regime.

 There were numerous cases of opposition candidates’ election campaign materials and radio appearances being censored. In particular, grave irregularities were found during the early and home voting procedures, and during the vote counting process. In addition, almost all appeals which were submitted before, during and after election day, were rejected by the responsible election commission.

The initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” demands the following amendments to the electoral code:

A. The introduction of legally prescribed criteria for the assessment of candidacies for the regional and local election commissions;

B. The opportunity for representatives of political parties who put forward candidates to be accepted onto the election commissions;

C. The removal of the possibility to ban election campaign events at central locations by the local authorities;

D. The restriction of the early voting process by introducing clear criteria for its application;

E. Restriction of home voting with mobile ballot boxes: the introduction of supervision of the mobile voting process by election observers and candidates’ representatives. These should testify to the lawful nature of the home votes with their signatures;

F. The creation of collective vote counting by the members of the election commission and the separate announcement of the results from early voting, home voting and the votes from election day itself;

G. The possibility for domestic election observers and their representatives to be able to carry out unrestricted observation of the vote counting process;

H. The expansion of domestic election observers’ activities during all stages of the election campaign.

Please find here the complete report.

07.05.2010

According to official figures, only ten of up to 365 representatives of opposition parties were elected onto the local councils. Those elected to the local councils include members of the Belarusian Party of United Leftists “Just World” (4 council members), the two unregistered parties: the Belarusian Christian Democratic Party (3 council members) and the Belarusian Social Democratic Party “Gramada” (1 council member). The domestic election observers condemn both the complete rejection of appeals against the clearly manipulated election results in some electoral districts and the exaggerated official election turnout. In addition, both the EU and the USA criticise acts of repression against candidates critical of the regime and the lack of transparency during the entire election process.

 

Only ten representatives of opposition parties elected onto local councils

According to official figures, only ten of up to 365 representatives of opposition parties were successful in their bid to become members of the regional councils. The majority of those successful came from the Belarusian Party of United Leftists “Just World”: of the 80 candidates who continued their election campaign in spite of targeted acts of repression, four will be representatives in the regional parliaments. In addition, three council members come from the unregistered Belarusian Christian Democratic Party (81 candidates), two from the similarly unregistered Belarusian Social Democratic Party “Narodnaya Gramada” (31 candidates) and one from the Belarusian Social Democratic Party “Gramada” (30 candidates).

 

The largest opposition groups, including the United Civil Party, the Party of the Belarusian National Front and the Movement „For Freedom“, failed to gain any seats on the local councils. All opposition parties have strongly condemned the unfair and unfree electoral process and have already submitted appeals against the recognition of the election results in some electoral districts. “Some candidates have decided to not only appeal to the superior election commission, but also to the public prosecution service”, comments Uladzimir Labkovich of the Human Rights Center Viasna in Minsk. “The information that we currently have suggests that so far all appeals have been rejected”, says Labkovich.

 

Domestic election observers bemoan the exaggerated official election turnout

According to the Central Election Commission the election turnout was 79.5%. However, the opposition parties provide a figure of no more than 50% for the actual election turnout. They refer to estimates of the parties’ election observers and candidates’ representatives who were able to observe the entire voting process without interruption. “For example, our election observers were able to count all of the voters who came to vote on election day in some precincts in Mahiliou,” reports Mikalai Statkevich, chairman of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party “Narodnaya Gramada”, speaking to the press agency Belapan. “The officially announced election turnout was 30 - 40% higher than the actual number of voters who were present at the polling stations”, Statkevich adds.

 

This impression is confirmed by Uladzimir Labkovich, legal expert at the Human Rights Center Viasna and analyst for the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”. “The official election turnout was already artificially raised during the early voting process,” he stresses. “Our election observers were also witness to the early voting at universities, in state companies and in public institutions, which was both enormous and organised under the pressure of the state apparatus”, says Labkovich. (See also Report № 8.)

 

EU and USA condemn the acts of repression and lack of transparency during the local elections

 

The local elections were not only criticised by Belarusian election observers, but also by European institutions and the USA. On 30th April, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decided to suspend its highest level contact with the Belarusian government and the parliament. The PACE resolution states that one of the most important factors in this decision was, alongside the recently implemented death penalty and the constant repression of the Polish minority, the failure to invite international election observers to the local elections.

 

Criticism was also heard from the American embassy in Minsk. According to the Press Agency Belapan, the American diplomats were extremely critical of “the threats and pressure put on independent candidates, the restrictions during the election campaign, the irregularities during the early voting and vote counting processes, and the restrictions of domestic and international election observers’ activities.

 

In an earlier statement, the EU had already criticised the „weaknesses during the implementation of the new electoral code“ during the local elections. According to reports from the diplomats from the EU states, who received accreditation as election observers, the most severe issues were to be found during the early voting process and the non-transparent vote counting process. The EU election observers also pointed to enormous discrepancies between the results drawn from the early voting process and the votes submitted on the election day itself. In a statement, the British embassy, which is currently representing the Spanish presidency of the European Union, demands that the Belarusian authorities continue their dialogue with the OSCE and aim to eliminate irregularities in the implementation of the electoral code.

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This newsletter is produced by European Exchange cooperation with the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHK) in Minsk, and is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw and the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin.

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26.04.2010

Yesterday at 8pm, the polling stations were closed in Belarus after six days of voting. The network of independent domestic election observers “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”, in which 130 activists, legal experts and journalists in all regions of the country have been participating, reports of enormous levels of election manipulation both during the early voting process and on election day. “Neither the voting nor the counting processes were carried out in accordance with the Belarusian electoral code”, says Aleh Hulak, chairman of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee in Minsk. “We recognise the elections as neither fair nor free.” According to the domestic election observers’ latest estimates, only six of up to 365 opposition candidates were voted onto the local councils. The final results are to be published on Friday 30th April.

Scarcely any opposition candidates elected to the regional councils

According to the central election commission’s official figures, the election turnout was 79.1%. During the early voting process, which began on Tuesday 20th April, and which, according to official figures, 29.3% of voters took part in, there were already numerous contraventions of the electoral code and of international standards, which were reported by the domestic election observers. On the Sunday of the election, when 49.8% of voters went to the polls, the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” also observed significant acts of manipulation and falsification of the election results in all regions of the country.

According to the domestic election observers’ latest figures, there are currently only up to six opposition candidates, three from the Belarusian Party of United Leftists ‘Just World’ and three from the unregistered Belarusian Christian Democratic Party, who have succeeded in being elected onto the local councils.

Early voting process under the control of the state apparatus

On 23rd April, Mikalay Lazavik, secretary of the central election commission, explained to the independent news agency Belapan that there had so far been “practically no signs of any irregularities” in the election process. However, the domestic election observers’ reports from all regions of the country contradict this statement. They state that, above all, the state apparatus (local authorities, the secret service KGB, the internal revenue, the state-controlled media and companies, and public institutions), had been mobilised to ensure a high turnout even before the day of the elections. In this way, the massive falsification of the ballot papers, which lay for over five days in the non-transparent ballot boxes, and the fraudulent alteration of the election results were made possible (for more, see report №7).

„Although everyone knows that the local elections in Belarus are particularly unpopular, according to official figures, around 25% of the voters still go to the polls and vote early”, says Valiantsin Stefanovich, legal expert and member of the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”. “The high election turnout during the early voting process is evidence of the fact that the early voting was organised by the state apparatus and conducted under repressive conditions”.

In all regions of the country, local executive committees decided to call together various “advisory boards”, “coordination points” and “curators” directly before the start of the early voting process, whose official role was supporting the election commissions. In this manner, the state apparatus ensured that it had direct influence over the actions of the local and regional election commissions, the domestic election monitors’ reports state.

The local authorities’ high level of dedication to ensuring a high early turnout is confirmed by more extraordinary measures taken in the regions. For example, in Baranavichy, advertisements promoting early voting could be seen on public transport. In Grodna, the private mobile phone provider MTS even sent text messages on behalf of the executive committee calling for people to take part in the early voting process, without mentioning the possibility of voting on election day. In Polack, Babruisk and Magiliou, as well as in other places throughout the country, the state-controlled media ran a powerful advertising campaign for the early voting process.

Organised voting at universities and within state companies

The election turnout was reported as being particularly high in those precincts where the majority of registered voters worked for a particular company or studied at a particular university and took advantage of the cheap accommodation at these institutions (boarding schools, student houses etc.). In these instances, the employees and students could count on reduced working hours or shortened lesson times, as soon as they had cast their early vote. Especially high election turnouts were also reported in closed electoral districts (barracks, maternity clinics etc.), to which the domestic election observers only had limited access. For example, 85% of the students at the institute of the committee for state security (KGB) cast their votes early. In addition, students at all of the Minsk universities who live in state-owned student accommodation were already forced to vote on the Friday. Their participation in the election was directly controlled by the heads of department and monitored with name lists hung up in the deaneries. Similar cases of disproportionately high election turnouts of 40% to 60% were registered in the cities of Magiliou, Mazyr, Saligorsk and Polock.

No votes for opposition candidates during the early voting process

According to the currently election result estimates, some opposition candidates in Gomel, Magiliou and Polock failed to receive any votes during the early voting process in any of the precincts where they were standing. On election day however, they did, according to the official protocols, receive between 10% and 20% of the votes. This is an indicator of possible falsification of the ballot papers during the earlier stage of the election.

Serious irregularities during the voting process and the counting of the ballot papers were also reported by domestic election observers from other regions of the country. In most electoral districts where the candidates loyal to the regime were forced to compete for votes against opposition politicians and activists, stark discrepancies were registered between the results from the early voting process and the votes cast on election day. Many members of the opposition who received the majority of the votes cast on election day still saw themselves defeated because of the results from early voting or from mobile voting done at home (Saligorsk, Barysau).

In addition, the domestic election observers also report of enormous falsification of ballot papers during the voting process conducted with mobile ballot boxes. For example, in one precinct in Gomel, 238 elderly and unwell people were allegedly visited at home by representatives of the election commission in the space of two hours. This is an unrealistic figure and a clear indication of electoral fraud. In Minsk, people who have been dead for years apparently submitted requests themselves for mobile voting from home. There were also many voters who were surprised by the visits from the commission members coming to their homes, because they had evidently not asked for a mobile vote. Similar cases were also registered in other regions, above all in electoral precincts where opposition candidates were standing for election.

Arrests and extensive tax checks target the opposition

During the last few days of the election campaign in Belarus, there were many arrests of opposition candidates and their supporters. For example, the young politician from the Party of the Belarusian National Front (PBNF), Franak Viachorka, was arrested in Mazyr on 24th April, when he intervened as a member of the election commission tried to cover up his campaign posters. Two other supporters of another PBNF candidate, Vintsuk Viachorka, were arrested whilst distributing campaign materials. Another candidate from the United Civil Party in Grodna, Dzmitryi Bondarchuk, was arrested because of his alleged involvement in a car accident. All of these candidates and activists were released after questioning.

The domestic election observers also report that some candidates who are critical of the regime and other opposition activists’ having their houses searched and tax records investigated. One example of this occurred in the Lida Rayon in the west of the country, where the flat of Siargey Trakhimchyk, candidate for the movement “For Freedom”, was searched by the secret service (KGB) on 23rd April. Previously, Aliaksandr Irho, a candidate from the Belarusian Social Democratic Party “Narodnaya Gramada”, was subject to an extensive tax investigation.

Information withheld and election monitoring restricted

During the final days before election day on 25th April, the restrictions placed on election monitoring by accredited domestic election observers and representatives of candidates in Orsha, Grodna and Minsk were already growing stronger and stronger. This tendency was also further confirmed on the Sunday of the elections. Many election observers were either prevented from properly monitoring the vote-counting process, or they were removed from the polling station by the police (Minsk, Babruisk, Grodna).

Enormous manipulation in the precincts on the Sunday of the election

During the voting process on 25th April, cases were registered in all regions of the country of voting without prior identification checks, and of individuals voting for multiple people. In electoral district № 20 in Minsk, ballot paper templates were provided in the voting booth, which unambiguously suggested voting for the candidate loyal to the regime.

Furthermore, election commission members often conducted no separate count of the votes from each of the various ballot boxes, of those from the early and mobile voting processes and from the votes on election day. (Glubokaye, Minsk). In Baranavichy and Zhlobian, the domestic election observers recorded that the ballot boxes were not satisfactorily sealed. According to the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”, ballot boxes were removed from a large number of precincts and stored at unknown locations. Further irregularities were recorded in Gomel and Berastse (Brest) concerning the way the result protocols were written up – the protocols were either written up in pencil and later amended, or even signed by the commission members before any numbers had been entered and then filled in by the heads of the election commissions. In addition, in Magiliou, the ballot papers and the result protocols were taken out of the precincts and sent to the city authorities, rather than being handed to the regional election commission.

Election observers and candidates demand that the elections in some electoral districts be declared void

In the Maladechno Rayon, north of Minsk, the domestic election observers are appealing against the recognition of the election results in three electoral districts where candidates loyal to the regime were also members of the election commissions. Also in Minsk, the candidate from the movement “For Freedom”, Aliaksandr Lagvinec, is demanding that the election result in his electoral district be annulled. Lagvinec cites as cause for his appeal the withholding of information concerning the number of voters who were registered in each electoral precinct, the falsification of voter lists, and interference with his election campaign through unlawful decisions taken by the regional election commission. Another five appeals against the election results have been lodged by candidates from the Belarusian Social Democratic Gramada (BSDG). The central election commission now has three days to make its first verdict on the appeals submitted.

In the next newsletter, we will be reporting on the official election results and on the investigation of the appeals submitted by candidates and election observers against the election results.

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This newsletter is produced by European Exchange cooperation with the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHK) in Minsk, and is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw and the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin.

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Early voting has been taking place in Belarus since Tuesday 20th April. In the precincts where, according to domestic election observers’ estimates, up to 40% of voters have already placed their votes, it is impossible to rule out election manipulation. Also, the initiative ‘Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” is reporting acts of discrimination and repression from the local authorities against opposition candidates. Furthermore, state media are withholding information about the elections – this has been proven both by domestic human rights defenders’ observations and by independent surveys.

Domestic election observers fear election manipulation during the early voting process

Early voting began in Belarus on 20th April. Although the new electoral code envisages that the ballot boxes be sealed daily and that the election turnout in each electoral precinct also be made public every day, the domestic election observers claim that election manipulation can be expected even during this year’s local elections. It is true that the number of voters should be better controlled, which should reduce the possibilities for falsifying the ballot papers, but the remarkably high election turnout, which was being seen in some electoral districts by just the second day of the early voting process, is an indicator of possible irregularities. For example, the domestic election observers in Vitsebsk report that on Wednesday, in some electoral precincts, as many as 30% of voters, mostly students at the Vitsebsk State Technological University, were evidently being forced to submit their votes early. In this electoral district, the director of the university in question is being forced to compete for voters’ approval against a strong candidate from the unregistered Belarusian Christian Democratic Party. Similar cases of disproportionately high election turnouts between 10 – 40% are also being reported from other regions of the country. This also points to forced early voting and possible later acts of manipulation.

Cases of numerous voters who worked at state companies or public institutions being forced to take part in the early voting process were already reported during the previous elections. This meant that every day the ballot papers could be checked and, where necessary, falsified in the ballot boxes. “In the eyes of the state apparatus, this kind of election manipulation already proved its worth at the last elections – the new electoral code alone cannot change that”, says Valiantsin Stefanovich, legal expert at the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ in Minsk. “The ballot boxes are not transparent, so no one can see whether the published figures correspond to reality. Also, the ballot boxes have been constructed so that they can be opened from underneath at any time, without having to break the correct seal”, explains Stefanovich, describing previous methods of manipulation during the early voting process.

Opposition candidates bemoan acts of harassment and repression during the election campaign

The new electoral code relaxes restrictions on the election campaign by stating that, in all places determined by the local authorities and the election commissions, election campaign events which are organised in enclosed spaces only have to be registered and no longer approved. The electoral code does not however dictate that such places have to exist in all electoral districts. In addition, election campaign events which are organised outdoors are still subject to the restrictive law governing large public events.

According to domestic election observers, such legal restrictions often prevent opposition candidates’ election campaign activities from taking place. “The local authorities use the law to push the election campaign away from the centre and out to deserted areas on the edge of the city. There is often only one place in the whole city – a stadium or a park – where election events are permitted”, explains Valiantsin Stefanovich. In addition, it is very often the case that a candidate cannot hold his election event in the electoral district where he is standing. “We are certainly looking at a curios situation when the candidate can’t speak to his voters”, states Stefanovich.

In the cities of Magiliou, Baranavichi and Saligorsk, opposition candidates have already registered complaints against the local authorities’ decisions regarding the designation of places for the election campaign, and have managed to force a positive reaction from the central election commission. “Unfortunately, this barely changes the general situation in most regions of the country”, comments Stefanovich. “Even after the intervention of the central election commission, there are, in Magiliou for example, still only three places which have been designated for election campaign events, in spite of the fact that there are dozens of electoral districts in the city”, says Stefanovich.

Censorship and restrictions affect the distribution of election campaign materials by candidates critical of the regime

Since the start of the election campaign, the domestic election observers have been reporting on a multitude of cases of unlawful restriction on the production and distribution of election campaign materials. According to experts from the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”, the financial resources provided by the law are insufficient for a candidate to conduct an effective election campaign. “According to the new electoral code, candidates are only allowed to use their own finances, whether they come from voter donations or out of the political parties’ or civil society organisations’ budgets, during presidential and parliamentary elections – not however during local elections”, explains Valiantsin Stefanovich. According to the law, the state budget provides each candidate for a seat on a council with funds for the production of election campaign materials: at the village level this is up to 35,000 Belarusian Roubles, BYR (around 9 €), at the rayon level up to 140,000 BYR (approx. 35 €) and on the regional level (including the capital city council in Minsk) up to 280,000 BYR (approx. 70 €). “We have received many reports from opposition politicians who have, with the money provided by the state, only been able to produce election campaign materials for between 10 and 40% of the potential voters in their electoral districts”, emphasises Stefanovich.

From the Berastse (Brest) and Magiliou regions, the domestic election observers are reporting on state printing houses refusing to print election campaign brochures and posters. This exclusively affected those candidates who are critical of the regime, whereby the heads of the publishing houses claimed that the content had to first be checked by the responsible authority. In addition, the publishing houses have, in some cases, printed election campaign brochures with either false or incomplete contact information for the opposition candidates. This has made the election campaign even more complicated for them than it already was to begin with.

The election monitors from the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” also point to unfair conditions for the distribution of printed advertising materials, depending on whether a candidate is loyal to or critical of the regime. Whilst opposition candidates are often unlawfully forbidden from distributing flyers and posters in public places, or their printed materials are even confiscated, candidates loyal to the regime remain unrestricted as they continue to receive unofficial support from state-controlled companies such as the postal service, which, for example, delivers their flyers and brochures to the houses of potential voters as a supplement with the state newspapers they subscribe to.

State media withhold information about the elections

The domestic election observers are bemoaning the lack of information in the state-controlled press about the course of the elections and about the political programmes of the opposition candidates. “The election campaign is practically non-existent in the state’s printed media coverage”, remarks Valiantsin Stefanovich. “The state newspapers are only required to publish the official information about, among other things, the candidates registered for the elections, the submission of voter lists, or the boundaries of the electoral districts. But even this information is rarely published completely in full on time, not to mention the lack of any extensive coverage which should normally contribute to the usual voter education”, comments Valiantsin Stefanovich.

At the same time, the state publications in all regions of the country have, since the beginning of the election campaign, been exclusively advocating the election of candidates loyal to the regime. Covert campaigning can be found in numerous interviews and portrait features of such candidates. The representatives of the opposition find themselves, by contrast, misrepresented or ignored.

A similar situation exists at the regional radio stations. “There have been many cases of censorship in the state-controlled media”, says Valiantsin Stefanovich from the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’. “Although the candidates each have just five minutes for their radio appearance, many critical broadcasts have either been pushed into inconvenient time slots or not aired at all”, he adds.

Surveys confirm the lack of information about the elections

At the start of April, the Belarusian Independent Institute for Social Economic and Political Studies NISEPI, based in Vilnius, had already presented the results of its survey from March 2010, according to which 76.5 % of voters had, a month after the official start of the election campaign, still not heard anything about the candidates standing for election. 36 % of those asked were, just one month before election day, unable to name the date of the local elections. Two thirds of those asked did not know who the candidates in their electoral districts were, whilst 46.2 % of the voters were convinced that the work of the local councils fails to have any influence on their lives.

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This newsletter is produced by European Exchange cooperation with the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHK) in Minsk, and is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw and the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin.

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16.04.2010

Ten days before election day, there are, according to domestic election observers’ estimates, only up to 365 members of the opposition who are still continuing their election campaign, and fighting for one of the 21,303 council seats. In Gomel, more candidates from the coalition United Democratic Forces of Belarus are complaining about the unfair conditions of the election campaign, and are withdrawing their candidacies. Of at least 127 appeals which have been submitted throughout the country against the non-registration of candidates for council seats, only two have been successful. The initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” is demanding legally prescribed criteria for the selection of competent candidates for the election commissions. It is also demanding more suitable training for the judges who are supposed to examine the appeals relating to the election.

Up to 365 opposition candidates in the whole country continue their election campaign

According to estimates of the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”, currently only up to 365 of the 428 registered opposition candidates are continuing their election campaign, and fighting for one of the total 21,303 council seats. Numerous members of the opposition have already decided to boycott the elections. In total, the registered and unregistered opposition parties put forward 617 candidates, of whom 179 (29%) could not be registered. Ten candidates from the Belarusian Party of United Leftists ‘Just World’ and the movement “For Freedom” withdrew their candidacies during the registration process as a result of pressure from the state apparatus or from their work superiors (see table below).

Because the local structures of the parties which are critical of the regime often make decisions on the continued participation in the election campaign independently of their central offices in Minsk, the number of opposition candidates involved in the election campaign can continue to change up until election day. In addition, opposition groups are threatening a complete withdrawal of their candidates just before election day, should free campaigning be restricted by the state apparatus.

Election boycott in Gomel

The elections are to take place in ten days and the number of members of the opposition involved in the election campaign continues to fall. The situation is particularly tense in the south-eastern region around the city of Gomel, where the local structures of the Belarusian Party of United Leftists ‘Just World’ and the Party of the Belarusian National Front (PBNF) have decided to withdraw all their candidates from the elections. The parties claim that members of the opposition are subject to victimization by the local administration. Previously, the United Civil Party (OGP) had already announced its boycott of the elections in all six regions of the country (see report № 4). Only those representatives of the OGP who were registered via the collection of signatures are able to continue with their election campaign.

The domestic election observers in Gomel report that only 22 of the 211 candidates nominated by opposition parties for the local election commissions will in fact be working at the precincts. Therefore, the opposition sees little hope of being able to monitor the voting and counting processes. “All the political powers in our region are convinced that the results will be falsified”, comments Piotr Kuznyacou, an expert from the Belarusian Helsinki Committee in Gomel, on the decision to boycott the elections. “No one believes that the boycott can have any real effect on the outcome of the elections, because, given the current conditions, the result of the election is already known. The opposition is using the boycott more as a media event, in order to demonstrate its discontent to the voters”, says Kuznyacou.

The election campaign in Gomel is now being continued by the unregistered Belarusian Christian Democratic Party, the movement “For Freedom”, and the Belarusian Party “The Greens”. Some individual candidates belonging to the parties which are boycotting the elections are also continuing their election campaigns, so long as they were not registered via party lists, but by the method of collecting signatures.

Domestic election observers criticise the lack of expertise of the election administration and the courts

According to the figures of the opposition parties, at least 127 appeals were submitted against the rejection of candidates’ registration, of which only two have so far seen a positive outcome. The initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” draws attention to the fact that many appeals were turned down unlawfully and criticises the lack of expertise of the members of the election commissions who have been examining the appeals. It is demanding that criteria for the selection of election commission candidates be set down in the electoral code. Earlier, the domestic election observers reported that candidates without the necessary expertise were often accepted onto the election commissions if they were loyal to the regime, whilst numerous experienced representatives of the opposition – politicians and legal experts – could not gain access to the precinct commissions (see report № 3).

Appeals rejected by the election commission at the local level will first be examined by the higher election commission and finally by the courts. During this process, there is a time limit of three days at each level for dealing with an appeal. “The electoral code does set out an appropriate procedure and deadlines for the examination of appeals”, says Uladzimir Labkovich, legal expert at the Human Rights Center Viasna. “However, the problem does not lie in the law, but in its implementation: the appeals are mostly rejected unlawfully or passed on to the wrong authority”, explains Labkovich.

Furthermore, when the local election commissions unlawfully reject a registration, the decision is often taken up by the higher election commission without being properly examined. Whilst this takes place, both the candidates and the domestic election observers are denied the opportunity to view the documentation concerning the decision-making process. “As long as there is no transparency in the examination of the documents submitted, one has to doubt the objectivity of the election commissions when rejecting candidates’ registrations”, comments Uladzimir Labkovich.

Overview of the candidacies from the opposition parties (Stand: 15^th April)

Party	Candidates put forward	Withdrawal before registration	Registered	Registration rejected	Appeals Submitted	Successful Appeals	Continuing the election campaign	Candidates boycotting
Belarusian Christian Democratic Party (BCHD)	173		82	91	80	1	83
Belarusian Party of United Leftists ‘Just World’	147	7	111	29	14	0	80	31
United Civil Party (OGP)	97		77	20	20	0	45	22
Movement "For Freedom“	83	3	63	17	11	0	63
Party of the Belarusian National Front (PBNF)	72		62	10
Belarusian Social Democratic Party ‘Gramada’ (BSDPG)	32		29	3	2	1	30
Belarusian Party of Greens	11		2	9	0	0	2
Belarusian Social Democratic Gramada (BSDG)	2		2				2
Total	617	10	428	179	127	2	305*	53

 

* In addition, up to 60 candidates of the Party of the Belarusian National Front are continuing their election campaign. The exact figure is not known.

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This newsletter is produced by European Exchange cooperation with the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHK) in Minsk, and is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw and the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin.

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01.04.2010

The initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” is criticising the high number of opposition candidates who have been denied registration. Whilst of the total 25,475 candidates who put themselves forward only 318 (1.2%) were rejected, of those 294 candidates nominated via the party lists of the registered opposition parties, 54 (18.3%) had their registration refused. The precise number of opposition members who will participate in the upcoming election campaign is not yet final, because, according to current estimates, up to 300 opposition politicians have been nominated via the collection of signatures, and because many of the opposition candidates who were denied registration have already submitted appeals. It is striking how few people are prepared to stand for the local elections: Only 25,035 people will be competing for the 21,303 council seats.

Domestic election observers criticise discrimination against the opposition

The registration of candidates for the regional and local elections in Belarus has been completed. Although the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” evaluates this stage of the election campaign on the whole as being “more democratic and more transparent than during the 2007 local elections”, it nevertheless also draws attention to the severe pressure which the state apparatus has put on numerous members of the opposition and activists, who were either unable to register or forced to pull out of the election campaign.

During the registration, which took place between the 15th and 25th of March, a total of 318 candidacies were refused by the regional election commissions. That represents 1.2% of the 24,475 candidates who attempted to stand. The opposition parties were however far more severely affected by these refusals: Of the 294 candidates from the registered parties belonging to the opposition bloc, 54 (18.3%) could not be registered. Similar results were seen for the unregistered opposition parties. For example, the Belarusian Christian Democratic Party put forward 173 candidates by collecting signatures, of whom 91 (52.6%) were rejected. A further 122 people withdrew their candidacies themselves.

Even before the start of the registration process, dozens of members of the opposition had withdrawn their candidacies because of acts of repression from the secret service and from their superiors at work. “Today, the only people participating in the election are those who either have nothing to lose or who want to gain the experience of an election campaign”, comments Anatol Lyabedzka, chairman of the United Civil Party, on the website of the United Democratic Forces of Belarus.

Over 17,500 single-candidate electoral districts expected

According to the domestic election observers’ figures, only 25,035 people will be standing for the 21,303 council seats, which means that a genuine election battle between at least two candidates will only be possible in a maximum of 3,732 electoral districts. In all the other electoral districts, primarily in the rural areas of the country, there will only be a single candidate standing for election. “The regime has put pressure on the opposition in the regions”, says Anna Kanius, a registered candidate of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party ‘Gramada’, in Berastse (Brest). “Activists who criticise the regime, who come from a small town and who are threatened by the loss of their jobs, can hardly count on any support from strong regional party structures. It is particularly difficult for them to last throughout the course of the election campaign”, comments Kanius, referring to the relative lack of involvement of representatives of the opposition in the local elections. “It is almost impossible for them to find a new job where they live” the politician explains and adds: “The fact that almost none of our activists will be able to control the voting and vote-counting processes as members of the precinct election commissions makes a fair election campaign in the provinces practically impossible.”

Denial of registration often unlawful

According to information of the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”, opposition candidates were often unlawfully denied registration. The new electoral code does prescribe the ability to view the documentation of the registration process and also allows for a court appeal. As a rule however, this is not put into practice in many parts of the country. In this way, the officially registered election observers in Mazyr and Grodna were prevented from checking the allegedly falsified signature lists of the refused candidates. In Berastse, a young candidate from the Belarusian Social Democratic Party ‘Gramada’ was denied registration on the grounds that he is currently studying in Gdansk in Poland. He does however have his main place of residence, and therefore his active right to vote, at his home in Berastse.

Similar cases have been reported all across the country. The opposition has been hit particularly hard in the Baranavichy region in western Belarus – there the regional election commission refused the registration of nine out of ten experienced candidates who are critical of the regime because of small inaccuracies in their signature lists. In this case, the domestic election observers could be certain of the fact that the allegedly falsified signatures had been falsified by the commission members themselves.

Most of the unregistered opposition candidates have already submitted appeals against the decisions to the responsible election commissions. For this reason, the final number of opposition members who will be participating in the upcoming election campaign is not yet known.

For most candidates the election campaign has already begun. The events in Belarus are drawing more and more attention from the international organisations, the OSCE and the EU. We will be reporting on this in the next newsletter. In the meantime, we wish you all a Happy Easter!

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This newsletter is produced by European Exchange cooperation with the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHK) in Minsk, and is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw and the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin.

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29.03.2010

More and more opposition members boycott the elections

After only a few members of the opposition were accepted onto the local election commissions, the opposition parties’ critical stance on continuing the election campaign is growing. On 21st March the United Civil Party (OGP), one of the most important opposition parties, decided to withdraw the candidates which had been nominated via its party lists from the election campaign. “The decision to pull out of the election campaign is our answer to the brutal practices of the government against candidates for council seats and the election commissions”, explained Anatol Lyabedzka, OGP chairman, to the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”. “By pulling our party structure out of the election campaign, we are also calling for other democratic forces to change the way elections are conducted ahead of the presidential elections”, Lyabedzka told the domestic election observers.

However, the Party of the Belarusian National Front (PBNF) took the decision to let its members in the regions decide for themselves whether they wished to continue the election campaign or not. “The government has secured complete control over the election commissions for itself, and it is showing disdain for the principal of equality and the transparency of the election process”, says Uladzimir Labkovich, legal expert in the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ in Minsk and secretary of the PBNF. He explains his party’s decision thus: “Whilst all the conditions for falsifying the elections during the voting and counting processes are in place, our candidates should nevertheless use the election campaign to forcefully promote democratic values amongst the population,”

The opposition coalition United Democratic Forces of Belarus started discussing a common strategy for the election campaign on 15th March. Other parties who are part of the coalition alongside the OGP and the PBNF will declare their intentions regarding a possible election boycott after 29th March, when the results of the registration of the candidates have been made known.

Growing pressure on opposition politicians and activists in the regions

Independent of their parties’ official positions, several members of the opposition have already broken off the continuation of their election campaign before the official registration deadline. Most candidates explained their withdrawal with the constant pressure from the secret services and with the fear of losing their jobs. According to the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”, this meant that all of the PBNF candidates in the south-eastern city of Babruisk withdrew their candidacies. A further seven candidates of the unregistered Belarusian Christian Democratic Party, three in Babruisk and four in Minsk, resigned because of threats of losing their jobs. In Svetlagorsk, south of Babruisk, two politicians of the Belarusian Party of United Leftists “Just World” announced their withdrawal, because none of their party representatives had been accepted onto the precinct election committees of the election wards where they were hoping to stand.

Ever since the beginning of the election campaign, the initiative „Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections“ has been reporting numerous instances of candidates being put under pressure at their workplaces. One such case is that of the popular activist Mikalai Rasiuk in Magilou. At the 2007 local elections, even the official election count gave him 32% of the vote in spite of the unfair conditions of the election campaign. This year, he was immediately made redundant without reason after his intention to stand for a council seat had been made public. This fate is shared by many campaigners who have collected signatures for opposition politicians and by citizens who have signed the lists.

Two election observers from the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Vital Amyalkovich in Sluck and Leanid Markhotka in Saligorsk, have had their accreditation revoked. During the election campaign, another election observer from the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”, Sviatlana Rudkouska, experienced unforeseen and unfounded difficulties at her workplace and was made to pay a fine. “The current pressure prevents any free elections”, comments Valiantsin Stefanovich, a legal expert at the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’.

Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe and the EU want to examine the implementation of the new electoral code during the local elections

The EU-Parliament is expecting an invitation from the Belarusian Central Election Commission to observe the local elections. According to a report from the independent radio station European Radio for Belarus (ERB), EU representatives of Euronest, a planned assembly of MEPs and parliamentarians from the six states of the Eastern Partnership, should assess the implementation of the new electoral code in Belarus during the voting process on 25th April. Kristian Vigenin, Chairman of the European Parliamentary Delegation Euronest, told ERB that the MEPs assessment of the local elections would contribute to the decision on whether the Belarusian parliamentarians, who were elected in 2008 in elections which were not recognised by international organisations, will be invited to participate in Euronest.

Previously, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe had announced an examination of the alterations to the Belarusian electoral code. According to a proposal from Sinikka Hurskainen, chair of the Belarus Committee in the political commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission should conduct a thorough analysis of the new electoral code, in order to examine the “actual influence of the alterations taken up at the end of 2009 on the Belarusian legislation’s compliancy with the standards of the Council of Europe”

On Monday 29th March, at 12 o’clock (11am GMT), the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” will be holding a press conference in the office of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, at which the results of the registration of candidates for council seats will be discussed. In the next newsletter, we will give a detailed account of this stage of the election campaign and the possible consequences for the further development of the election process.

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This newsletter is produced by European Exchange cooperation with the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHK) in Minsk, and is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw and the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin.

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19.03.2010

Domestic election observers bemoan the lack of transparency during the process of building the local election commissions

The make-up of the local election commissions was finalised on 10th March. According to the electoral code, each commission can be made up of between five and 19 members. The commission members are nominated by political parties via party lists, by civil society organisations, by workers’ collectives, and by voters who have collected signatures. In total, 68,881 commission members were appointed, which means that on average 11 people will be working at each of the 6,387 election precincts.

The initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” has a negative assessment of the results of this stage of the election campaign. “The appointment of local election commission members took place in a secretive atmosphere behind closed doors”, says Uladzimir Labkovich, an election observer from the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’. “Most candidates and their representatives were denied access to the executive committee meetings, at which the commission members were appointed”, Labkovich explains.

The opposition nominated, via party lists, around a quarter (604) of a total 2,212 candidates from political parties for the local election commissions. However, the opposition was severely disadvantaged during the candidate selection process: Whilst of the 1,608 members of the parties loyal to the regime 1,496 (93%) were selected for the local election commissions, the opposition saw only 76 of their 604 representatives selected (12.6%).

A further 24 candidates from opposition parties were able to gain a place in the election commissions by gathering signatures. (In total, 26,371 commission members were appointed via this method.) Therefore, the coalition of United Democratic Forces of Belarus, which is comprised of, among others, the Belarusian Party of United Leftists ‘Just World’, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party ‘Gramada’, the United Civil Party, the Party of the Belarusian National Front and the Movement ‘For Freedom’, is represented in the precinct election committees by just 100 party members. This corresponds to around 0.14% of all local election commission members and signals no substantial improvement when compared with the results of the 2008 parliamentary campaign. Two years ago, the opposition were able to occupy approximately 0.07% of the seats in the local election commissions.

Civil society organisations successfully delegated 25,223 representatives to the local election commissions and thereby achieved the quota of at least a third of the commission members envisaged by the new electoral code. According to the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” however, most candidates come from groups which are loyal to the regime, such as ‘Belaya Rus’, the Belarusian Public Association of Veterans or the Belarusian Republican Youth Union. Furthermore, the domestic election observers report that, in the Eastern city of Orsha, representatives of civil organisations which have previously been politically inactive, such as the Red Cross or the Lifeboat Service, have been accepted into the election commissions in large numbers.

Almost a quarter of the commission members who were selected (15,345) were nominated by workers’ collectives of state companies and public institutions. The domestic election observers from Vitebsk in the east of the country draw attention to the fact that in these cases the candidates are subject to great pressure from their companies. They report that, as a rule, the people working at any one election precinct will be members of the same state institution (e.g. school, hospital, kindergarten etc.) or the same state company. Because the managers of these institutions and companies are often also appointed as the commission chairmen, all commission members, should they step out of line, are then subject to direct pressure from their superior and threatened by the loss of their job.

According to the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” the local executive committees have rejected the nominations of numerous independent candidates, although they have many years of varied experience in election processes. Amongst these candidates, there are many opposition politicians and domestic election observers, as well as respected legal experts, journalists, and political analysts. “This year, the amended electoral code from January 2010 has again led to no improvement in the building of the election commissions”, says Valentin Stefanovich, a legal expert at the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ in Minsk. “Our experience shows that the opposition will only have minimal involvement in the election commissions, as long as the electoral code fails to provide precise criteria for the appointment of their members”, Stevanovich emphasises.

The registration of candidates for council seats is currently taking place. This process is being accompanied by an increase in repression of activists and journalists. We will be reporting in detail on this in the next newsletter, which is scheduled for publication on 25th March.

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This newsletter is produced by European Exchange cooperation with the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHK) in Minsk, and is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw and the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin.

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12.03.2010

This week’s newsletter deals with those alterations to the Belarusian electoral code, which was adopted on 4th January 2010, which are relevant for the upcoming elections to the local councils.

1. Broadening domestic election observers’ opportunities for observation

According to the new electoral code, not only official party members or members of civil organisations, but also their representatives can be accredited as election observers. “This alteration is first and foremost important because NGO and party membership in the regions is very tightly controlled by the local authorities”, says Aleh Hulak, chairman of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee. “For this reason, many activists are not official members of their organisations. Now it is more straightforward for activists of this kind to receive their accreditation as election observers”, comments Hulak.

He does however point to the fact that any real opportunities for observing the vote submission and above all the vote counting process are highly restricted. “A large number of election observers does not necessarily automatically improve the quality and the transparency of the election process”, emphasises Hulak. “A collective vote counting process carried out by the members of the commissions, such as we have been proposing for some time, has not been taken up into the new electoral law”, says the Belarusian expert. “It is still the case today, that each commission member only counts one pile of ballot papers and so cannot judge whether the collated result in the report can actually be accounted for”, explains Hulak.

2. Balance in the election commissions between independent parties and organisations, and officials who are loyal to the regime

According to the new electoral code, the number of representatives from political parties and civil organisations should be brought up to at least a third of the commission members, and the number of officials should also be reduced to a third. The remaining seats should be occupied by representatives of workers’ committees and by candidates who have collected at least ten signatures. In addition, judges, state lawyers and the chairmen of the executive committees and the supervisory authorities are forbidden from becoming members of the election committees. (More on this topic can be found in Newsletter №1 from 04.03.2010.)

3. Improved appeal possibilities

Since the alteration to the law, the possibilities for lodging an appeal against the refusal of a candidate’s registration for the election commission have been improved: The executive committees are bound by the new electoral code to make the documentation of the decision-making process concerning the nomination of election commission candidates publicly accessible. Furthermore, organisations and people who have proposed candidates are able to challenge refusals in court.

The possibility for lodging a complaint against the election results has however not been improved with the change to the law. “It is practically impossible to appeal against the election results in individual election wards” – states Aleh Hulak.

4. Broader possibilities for the election campaign

According to the new electoral code, supporter groups can collect signatures for proposing a candidate in all places, where the collection of signatures has not been explicitly banned by the responsible executive committee. The initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” reports however, that the collecting of signatures has already been outlawed in most of the cities’ central areas and streets, at stations, in most hospitals and student dormitories, and in other densely populated areas.

According to the initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”, it has however, compared with the situation during the parliamentary elections in 2008, been made easier to conduct the election campaign in public buildings. “It is easier to get a permit for indoor election events”, emphasises Aleh Hulak. “The authorities have to issue such a permit within three days”. The Belarusian Human Rights Defender does however make the point that the organisation of an election event continues to be subject to the restrictive rules of the law governing large public events.

The new electoral law also removes the ban on several candidates holding election campaign events together, which led to a number of opposition politicians withdrawing from the election campaign during the 2008 parliamentary elections. The new law permits the organisation of joint election events involving a number of candidates and the publication of joint leaflets and posters.

5. Liberalisation of the registration of candidates for council seats

The new electoral code liberalises the process of candidate registration. The rejection of a candidacy can only occur if the responsible executive committee judges more than 5% of the signatures which the candidate has submitted to be invalid or finds his declaration of assets to be erroneous. The old electoral code was far more restrictive in this respect. The relevant registration authority was previously able to bar a candidate from standing for election on the basis of a small inaccuracy in his documentation, such as in his CV.

6. Improved transparency in the early voting procedures

The early voting procedures begin five days before the actual election day. The new electoral code envisages that both the ballot boxes be sealed and that the registered election turnout be published daily. Furthermore, the number of votes from the early submissions and from home voting should be noted separately in the final report.

“It is true that the alterations which have been made to the electoral code are an important step towards democratisation of the Belarusian election process. They do not though go so far as to substantially change the entire process”, says Hulak. “However, if there did exist the political will to conduct free elections, then the law would absolutely encourage such an election process”, states Aleh Hulak.

On 10th March, the formation of the precinct election commissions was completed. In the next newsletter we will be analysing this important stage of the election process. (Precinct election commissions are responsible for, among other things, the submission and vote counting processes.) In addition to this, we will be reporting on the results of the registration of candidates for the council seats – this process should be completed on 15th March.

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This newsletter is produced by European Exchange in cooperation with the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee in Minsk, and is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw and the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin.

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04.03.2010

European Exchange and Belarusian Human Rights Defenders begin their Monitoring of the Local Elections in Belarus

In Belarus, elections to the local councils are being held on the 25th April. European Exchange is continuing its cooperation with the Minsk Human Rights Organisations – the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee – which began during the Belarusian parliamentary elections in 2008. This year, it is again reporting on the developments of the elections. The election monitoring campaign, ‘Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections’, which was initiated in 2008, has since received the award ‘Civil Campaign of the Year 2008’ from the Association of Pro-Democratic Nongovernmental Organisations in Belarus.

This year, the campaign ‘Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections’, in which around 130 local experts, lawyers and journalists in all regions of the country are involved, should observe whether the election campaign is conducted in the correct manner. Because the international organisations are not sending a full-scale election monitoring mission to the local elections, the reports from the non-partisan, domestic election observers will be the central independent source of information during the entire election process in Belarus. The assessment of the local election campaign will also be a test for Lukashenka’s government ahead of the presidential elections, which are to take place in the winter of 2010-2011.

European Exchange will provide information about the events in Belarus and is sending a weekly newsletter in English and German to interested persons and organisations. This is being supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw and the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin.

In the first edition, we will be reporting on the formation of the regional election commissions in the light of the newly amended electoral code, which was introduced in January 2010 in line with recommendations from the OSCE.

The political situation in Belarus on the eve of the local elections

Belarus has been governed in an autocratic manner since 1994. The opposition has not been represented in parliament since the 2004 elections. Of more than 5000 members of the regional and city councils, less than 20 represent the opposition. Nongovernmental organisations and opposition parties are subject to repression from Lukashenka’s government and the local authorities. Since the year 2000, not a single party has been officially registered.

In response to the release of political prisoners in August 2008, including the former presidential candidate and Lukashenka-opponent Alyaksandr Kazulin, the Council of the European Union relaxed its sanctions against Belarus. The ban on Lukashenka and other regime functionaries entering the EU was lifted for a trial period of six months on the condition that Belarus progress with its democratisation. This was done in spite of the parliamentary elections in September 2008 being manipulated and not receiving recognition from the international community.

The EU has decided to pursue its dialogue with Belarus in spite of unsatisfactory progression in its democratisation process. In May 2009, Belarus was, along with Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, accepted into the European Union’s Eastern Partnership. It should therefore come to benefit from the new instruments of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Since 2009, the International Monetary Fund has supported the Belarusian Economy, which has been affected by the worldwide financial crisis, with 3.5 billion US dollars of loans. However, the political liberalisation which the West is demanding is only moving forward very slowly. Arrests and questioning of members of the opposition and independent journalists, intimidation of the Polish minority which is critical of the regime, as well as the case of new political prisoners – Mikalai Autukhovich and Uladzimir Asipenka – describe the current situation in the country.

The amended electoral code – theory and practice

In January 2010, the Belarusian parliament accepted the amendments to the electoral code and in so doing at least partly implemented the proposals of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and of independent Belarusian experts, which had been made years ago. However, Belarusian election observers warn against a premature evaluation of the election campaign, which could assess the conditions as positive. It will only be seen whether the regime is genuinely prepared to allow substantial democratic reform ahead of the presidential elections, which are to take place by February 2011 at the latest, when the new rules are put into action during the local elections.

‘Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections’ bemoan the weak representation of opposition parties in the regional election commissions

According to the new electoral code, opposition parties and NGOs should be strengthened in the election commissions and the number of officials loyal to the regime should be reduced. This is ensured by allowing parties and NGOs on the one hand, and the administration on the other hand, to each provide up to a third of the members of the election committees. The remaining seats should be filled by representatives of the workers’ committees and by candidates who have collected at least 10 signatures. Those applicants who are not chosen are able to appeal against the responsible election authority’s decision in court.

In spite of these new rules, the domestic election observes are displeased with the disproportionately low number of parties’ representatives in the regional election commissions: 407 of a total of 16558 members of the regional election committees are representatives of parties (around 2,4 %). Whilst of the 379 candidates from parties loyal to the regime (including the Communist Party of Belarus and the Agrarian Party), 320 (around 84%) were appointed as members of the election commissions, only 87 of the 238 (around 37%) opposition applicants (including the Belarusian Party of United Leftists ‘Just World’, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party ‘Gramada’, the United Civil Party and the Party of the Belarusian National Front) were appointed to the election commissions. Parties and nongovernmental organisations were indeed able to occupy around a third of the seats in the election commissions but the vast majority came from organisations loyal to the regime: ‘Belaya Rus’, the Belarusian Republican Youth Union and the Belarusian Public Association of Veterans.

In addition, ‘Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections’ is criticising the rules of the electoral code, according to which parties can only present their candidates for regional election commissions via officially registered regional offices. “Many political parties do not have any registered structures in the regions” – explains Valiantsin Stefanovich, a legal expert for the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ in Minsk. “This meant that, for example, the Belarusian Christian Democratic Party, which is not registered, was unable to present candidates for the election commissions, and was therefore forced to nominate its representatives by way of the collection of signatures. In any case, of over 40 Christian Democrat candidates, only three managed to make it into the election committees”, says Stefanovich in Minsk.

The Belarusian election observers also draw attention to the fact that the decisions on the nominations of members to the election commissions lacked transparent criteria and were often taken behind closed doors by the regional executive committees. “Belarusian political parties are, just as before, excluded from participating in the work of the election committees” – comments Uladzimir Labkovich, a legal expert for the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’. “In a situation where there are no criteria for the appointment of commission members and where the authorities responsible for the formation of the election committees cannot be brought to account, an appeal in the courts is also pointless” – says Labkovich.

State officials dominate in the election commissions

The Belarusian Human Rights Defenders also point to there being a disproportionately high number of employees of state administrative bodies represented in the election commissions. They are appointed by the means of collecting signatures, as representatives of political parties or of civil society organisations. Due to this practice, which has already taken place at this early stage of the election campaign, the legally envisaged balance in the election commissions between one third of the seats for those loyal to and one third for those critical of the regime is destroyed. In addition to this, the domestic election observers report that the state-controlled local press is not announcing the actual positions of the state officials, so that their real number in the commissions cannot be determined. According to a statement from the Human Rights Defenders, the officials are generally appointed as members of the parties loyal to the regime (Communist Party of Belarus, Agrarian Party) or those nongovernmental organisations which are close to the state (‘Belaya Rus’, Belarusian Republican Youth Union, Belarusian Public Association of Veterans). “The election commissions find themselves under total governmental control” – declares Uladzimir Labkovich.

In the next newsletter, we will be reporting on the coming stages of the local election campaign in Belarus: the registration of candidates’ supporter groups and the nomination of candidates to the precinct election commissions.

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This newsletter is produced by European Exchange cooperation with the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHK) in Minsk, and is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw and the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin.

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