There are still no elections in Belarus
“There are still no elections in the Republic of Belarus. Therefore, there are no reasons to declare that the current election campaign complies with the standards of free and fair elections”. This statement was issued by the leaders of the democratic parties and movements of Belarus.
“The results which will be announced by the authorities after the polling day of April 25, 2010 could not be considered to reflect the will of the Belarusian voters”, the joint statement says.
The authors of the statement note that democratic parties and civil organizations actively participated in the election process from the very beginning, having delegated over a thousand of representatives to election commissions. However, only some 200 representatives of opposition were included in election commissions which amounts to 0.3% of the total quantity of members of election commissions.
Moreover, the opposition structures drew up the lists of 2.5 thousand potential contenders as early as at the stage of preparation to delegating the candidates for deputies.
«However, the authorities – instead of the promised liberalization – continued using the tactics of intimidation of democratic activists, of their teams’ members, as well as of the citizens who gave their signatures for delegating the opposition candidates”, the document says.
“As the result of the unprecedented pressure used by the heads of enterprises, organizations, educational institutions, as well as by the employees of local executive committees, law enforcement agencies, and tax, financial, and monitoring services, only 700 activists found the courage to continue participating in the election campaign”.
“After that, the number of the activists was cut by one third during the registration. As the result, less than 500 people continue participating in the election which is approximately 2% of the total number of the registered candidates”, the statement notes.
Thus, the opposition representatives make the conclusion that “the current election campaign doesn’t differ virtually in anything from the previous ones that weren’t admitted by the international community as free and fair”. “The election institute is in total crisis in Belarus. The outcome of the complete degradation of the election system is the virtual appointment of deputies”, the statement says.
In order to change this situation, the opposition representatives once again offer to the authorities to start considering the proposals on amending the election legislation and the practice of law application.
The statement was signed by the leaders of 13 parties and civil organizations, including the Belarusian Green party, the Nadzieya (Hope) Belarusian Women’s party, the Just World Belarusian party, the Hramada Belarusian Social Democratic party, the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) party, the United Civil Party, the Movement for Freedom (the MFF), as well as by the organizing committees of the Belarusian Social Democratic party (Narodnaya Hramada), the Movement for Free Development of the Entrepreneurship, the Belarusian Christian Democracy party, the Freedom and Progress Party, and the Workers’ Party.
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