Beloozyorsk elected official says by-election was flawed

2003-11-25 15:10:00

Brest, 25 November. Yury Gubarevich, deputy chairman of the Beloozyorsk City Soviet, Brest region, said the November 23 by-election for the City Soviet was marred by law violations that could have influenced its results. None of the six candidates fielded by the opposition Belarusian Social Democratic Party "Narodnaya Hramada" (BSDP) won seats in the City Soviet in the first round. Runoffs are to be held in two districts, where the BSDP candidates received more votes than their rivals. In a joint statement released on November 25, Mr. Gubarevich and Yevgeny Okoronko, local leader of the BSDP, say that observers reported fraud during early mobile voting, voter list and ballot tampering, and illegal campaigning for authorities-backed candidates. "The campaign was characterized by mudslinging against candidates independent of the authorities," Mr. Gubarevich told BelaPAN. "The state-controlled periodicals carried at least five publications accusing independent deputies and candidates of inciting social hatred, being dependent on western 'conductors,' taking credit for others' merits and feeling affection for the Nazi ideology. Anonymous leaflets blackened the reputation of independent deputies and candidates. That could have influenced the by-election results." The 25-seat Beloozyorsk Soviet was the only city council in Belarus that required by-elections after the March 2003 local election and the only one dominated by people in opposition to the government's policies. Opponents of the Aleksandr Lukashenko regime won eight seats in March, while pro-government candidates gained just five seats. The local election commission initially registered 31 candidates in the by-elections, but nine of them, including three BSDP members and six fielded by workers' collectives, eventually withdrew from the race. Nikolai Konetsky, chairman of the Beloozyorsk Election Commission, called the election "truly democratic." Mr. Gubarevich, however, said it was not. According to him, observers have reported irregularities and violations to the local prosecutor's office and Committee for State Security (KGB). "All public attention was fixed on the election. A large number of observers were present, including Swedish MP Cecilia Wikstrom and Milos Balaban, deputy international secretary of the Czech Social Democratic Party. They were not admitted to polling stations," Mr. Gubarevich stressed.