Belarusians to decide on Lukashenko's third term on October 17

2004-09-08

A comment by editor Kitill Poznyak,

The Belarusian leader's decision came as no surprise. Since the beginning of the year, the head of state has repeatedly said that he would not rule out the possibility of his participation in the 2006 presidential race. He stressed that if he decided to do this, he would ask the Belarusians' permission.

The constitution currently in force bans one person from being president for more than two terms, and Lukashenko was reelected for the second five-year term on September 9, 2001.

The question put to the October 17 plebiscite reads, "Do you allow A.G. [Aleksandr Grigoryevich] Lukashenko, the first president of the Republic of Belarus, to stand as a candidate for election as president of the Republic of Belarus and approve the following wording of Part 1 of Article 81 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus: "The president shall be elected for a five-year term directly by the people of the Republic of Belarus on the basis of universal, free, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot?"

The current version of the article reads, "The president is elected for a five-year term directly by the people of the Republic of Belarus on the basis of universal, free, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. One person cannot be president for more than two terms."

It can readily be realized that the president suggests removing the constitutional limit on presidency terms. In theory, Lukashenko would be able to keep the presidency for life by winning presidential elections.

As Lukashenko explained, he will ask for the people's permission to run for president at least one more time because he aims to preserve stability in Belarus. He made clear that he should be given credit for this. According to Mr. Lukashenko, since he was elected president in 1994, he has been carrying carefully and with awe before himself "this light, crystal vessel named Belarus." "I am carrying it, being afraid of dropping it, because it is very fragile and vulnerable. You must agree that we would not like this serenity, this beauty that we have created, to fall into the hands of an irresponsible and accidental politician," he said.

According to a June poll by the Independent Institute of Social, Economic and Political Studies, only a third of the population would welcome a new presidential term for Lukashenko.

Guided by this information, opposition politicians claim that the Belarusian leader will lose the referendum provided the voting process is fair and there is no ballot-rigging.

The head of state told reporters on July 20, the tenth anniversary of his rule, that 65 percent of the Belarusians support him, ten percent do not and 25 percent are hesitant.