The Belarus People Have Spoken, President’s Supporters Win Every Seat in Parliament
17 replies, posted
[QUOTE]MINSK, Belarus — Supporters of President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko won every seat in Parliament in an election over the weekend that, as many in post-Soviet authoritarian states, was widely seen as rigged, if perhaps a little less so than before.
The chairman of the Central Election Commission said the turnout was 74 percent, despite calls for a boycott by two opposition parties. Other opposition figures were allowed to run in the election with fewer bureaucratic hindrances, which was viewed as an improvement over past parliamentary elections, but none of them won a seat.
[B]“This election was not competitive,” said Matteo Mecacci, an Italian lawmaker and the head of an international observer mission in Belarus, in a statement released by the mission. “A free election depends on people being free to speak, organize and run for office, and we didn’t see that.”[/B]
The group’s report noted the easing of rules for registering candidates, something Belarussian officials are believed to have enacted last year in the hope that the European Union would ease a visa ban on Mr. Lukashenko and 100 or so other senior officials. Foreign ministers of the union’s members will meet next month to weigh whether the changes merit a loosening of the visa ban and other sanctions.
[B]Belarus’s political system closely resembles those in other former Soviet states with authoritarian governments that stage rigged elections. In February, for example, the president of Turkmenistan won election with 97 percent support against seven candidates, all of them members of his own political party.[/B]
In Belarus, the last three opposition figures lost their seats in Parliament in 2004.
Alaksiej Janukievic, chairman of the Belarussian Popular Front, one of the two parties that boycotted the latest election, said that if Mr. Lukashenko wanted to win an easing of the European sanctions, the logical path would be to allow one or two opposition figures into the 110-seat Parliament. But letting even one critic in “would challenge the whole ideological line of the government,” Mr. Janukievic said. “There is a president, and the people who support him, and there is a fifth column. If even one opposition member entered Parliament, it would show the opposition is not a public enemy, as the public supported at least one of them.”[/quote]
Source: [url]http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/world/europe/belarus-presidents-supporters-win-every-parliament-seat.html?ref=europe[/url]
Oh come on Lukashenko , at least make it look like it's a [B]legitimate [/B]result hahaha
It's funny they generalise that elections are rigged in "many" post soviet states even though belarus is the only dictatorship left out of those.
Look at the baltic countries, moldova and ukraine.
[QUOTE=Falchion;37795180]It's funny they generalise that elections are rigged in "many" post soviet states even though belarus is the only dictatorship left out of those.
Look at the baltic countries, moldova and ukraine.[/QUOTE]
There's more post-Soviet nations than those in Eastern Europe. Try to get a holistic view, as what I've bolded [I]in the article[/I]:
"Belarus’s political system closely resembles those in other former Soviet states with authoritarian governments that stage rigged elections. [B]In February, for example, the president of Turkmenistan won election with 97 percent support against seven candidates, all of them members of his own political party.[/B]"
I read in a newspaper that Lukashenko said Poland should learn from Belarus on how to carry the elections.
All glory to Belarusian democracy!
[QUOTE=Falchion;37795180]It's funny they generalise that elections are rigged in "many" post soviet states even though belarus is the only dictatorship left out of those.
Look at the baltic countries, moldova and ukraine.[/QUOTE]
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are all dictatorships. Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan is pretty dictatorial too.
[QUOTE=UnknownDude;37795757]Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are all dictatorships. Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan is pretty dictatorial too.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't exactly call Ukraine democratic either, but that can be argued.
[QUOTE=Falchion;37795180]It's funny they generalise that elections are rigged in "many" post soviet states even though belarus is the only dictatorship left out of those.
Look at the baltic countries, moldova and ukraine.[/QUOTE]
Because we all know what country is really great to live in
Moldova
lol
[QUOTE=TehMentos;37799282]I wouldn't exactly call Ukraine democratic either, but that can be argued.[/QUOTE]
Not to mention Russia itself, with the corrupt kleptocrat they call Vladimir Putin.
[QUOTE=UnknownDude;37799788]Not to mention Russia itself, with the corrupt kleptocrat they call Vladimir Putin.[/QUOTE]
Don't worry, when the [DEL]USSR 2.0[/DEL] Eurasion Union becomes a reality, he'll fix everything!!!
Why hasn't Russia just conquered Belarus yet, they practically run the neighbouring states already.
At least there wasn't over 100% voter turnout.
[QUOTE=Chernarus;37800402]Why hasn't Russia just conquered Belarus yet, they practically run the neighbouring states already.[/QUOTE]
I think there was talks of a union a bit ago, actually.
An economic union between post-soviet states to compete with the EU.
Obviously a cover.
Putin Jr.
[QUOTE=zombojoe;37802722]An economic union between post-soviet states to compete with the EU.
Obviously a cover.[/QUOTE]
No, I read somewhere else about a national union between Russia and Belarus. I'll see if I can find it. It could have just been theorizes about what could happen, I don't remember exactly but I know it was more than economic.
[editline]25th September 2012[/editline]
Here's some info on it, but I couldn't find the article I had read. Apparently there are some for a union, while Lukashenko seems to be against it.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_State#Renewed_interest[/url]
Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear. Alan Coren
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