Social Democratic Party calls for non-recognition of Belarus election

Minsk, 21 September. Belarus' presidential election failed to meet the European and global standards for democratic, transparent and open elections, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party says in a September 21 statement. The Social Democrats cite reports of massive vote fraud and other violations, stressing that the September 9 election fell short even of the electoral laws adopted by the Aleksandr Lukashenko regime. They agree with the skeptical findings of the International Limited Election Observation Mission, representing the OSCE and Europe's other major organizations. The party joins the appeal of Belarus' major opposition parties for non-recognition of the official election outcome, i.e. a landslide victory for the incumbent Lukashenko, and calls for strengthening the anti-Lukashenko coalition.