Neither Belarusian public nor international community should recognize local elections, Milinkevich says
Neither the Belarusian public nor the international community should recognize the April 20-25 local elections, Alyaksandr Milinkevich, leader of the Movement for Freedom, told reporters in Minsk on Monday.
None of the candidates representing the Movement for Freedom have been elected to local soviets.
"I believe that both we and our partners in civilized countries should state firmly that these elections cannot be recognized," Mr. Milinkevich said. "They were rigged, there were no elections. And we won't recognize any future elections unless at least one independent candidate or observer is able to count ballots together with every [precinct election] commission."
The local elections were a rehearsal of the forthcoming presidential election, and one can say with confidence even now that it will not be recognized unless the opposition is properly represented on precinct commissions, Mr. Milinkevich said.
The elections have showed the narrow-mindedness of the Belarusian government, he noted. The government “simply doesn't understand that if you don’t make concessions and begin a dialogue with the opposition, there may be completely different scenarios, such as street confrontation, fierce struggle and, God forbid, bloodshed," he said. "I don’t want this."
Although the elections have made it clear that the authorities will not count ballots fairly of their own free will, economic factors and the need to cooperate with the West may force them to do this, Mr. Milinkevich said. "But one should not rely only on the West," he stressed. "We should also do our work, as public sentiment is changing for the better."
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