Belarusian presidential election, 2015

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Belarusian presidential election, 2015
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  SBY dan Alexander Lukashenko 19-03-2013 (cropped).jpg Tacciana Karatkievic.jpeg
Nominee Alexander Lukashenko Tatsiana Karatkevich
Party Independent BSDP(A)
Popular vote5,102,478271,426
Percentage83.47%4.44%
 
Nominee Sergei Gaidukevich Nikolai Ulakhovich
Party LDP BPP
Popular vote201,945102,131
Percentage3.30%1.67%
President before election

Alexander Lukashenko
Independent

Elected President

Alexander Lukashenko
Independent

Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 11 October 2015. [1] Long-term president Alexander Lukashenko ran for his fifth term in office, having won every presidential election since independence in 1991. He was re-elected with 83.47% of the vote. The 'against all' option received more votes than any opposition candidate.

Belarus country in Eastern Europe

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital and most populous city is Minsk. Over 40% of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested. Its major economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing. Until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire.

Alexander Lukashenko President of Belarus since 20 July 1994

Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko is a Belarusian politician serving as President of Belarus since the office was created on 20 July 1994. Before launching his political career, Lukashenko worked as director of a collective farm (kolkhoz) and spent time with the Soviet Border Troops and the Soviet Army. He was the only deputy to vote against the independence of Belarus from the Soviet Union.

"None of the above", or NOTA for short, also known as "against all" or a "scratch" vote, is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of the candidates in a voting system. It is based on the principle that consent requires the ability to withhold consent in an election, just as they can by voting "No" on ballot questions.

Contents

Background

Prior to the vote, six incarcerated opposition figures were pardoned by Lukashenko. The move was welcomed by the OSCE electoral observer mission with the head of the delegation, Kent Härstedt, saying: "The recent release of political prisoners and a welcoming approach to observers were positive developments. However, the hope that this gave us for broader electoral progress was largely unfulfilled." [2] The International Federation for Human Rights reported that it is likely that released political prisoners in Belarus still have many rights curtailed, such as inability to work for the government or run for public office, police visitations, and restriction of travel. [3] Fewer protests occurred during this presidential election than during others, mostly due to unease over the Maidan protests in Ukraine two years prior. The government of Belarus exploited this unease by advocating stability over change, and even opposition leaders opposed protests. [4]

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe security-oriented intergovernmental organization

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and fair elections. It employs around 3,460 people, mostly in its field operations but also in its secretariat in Vienna, Austria and its institutions. It has its origins in the 1975 Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland.

Kent Härstedt Swedish social democratic politician from Skåne County, member of the Riksdag (Parliament) since 1998

Kent Härstedt is a Swedish social democratic politician, member of the Riksdag since the Swedish general election, 1998.

Euromaidan 2013–2014 protests in Ukraine

Euromaidan was a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on the night of 21 November 2013 with public protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kiev. The protests were sparked by the Ukrainian government's decision to suspend the signing of an association agreement with the European Union, instead choosing closer ties to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. The scope of the protests soon widened, with calls for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych and his government. The protests were fueled by the perception of "widespread government corruption", "abuse of power", and "violation of human rights in Ukraine". Transparency International named President Yanukovych as the top example of corruption in the world. The situation escalated after the violent dispersal of protesters on 30 November, leading to many more protesters joining. The protests led to the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.

Candidates

A total of eight candidates attempted to register to run in the elections by collecting the required 100,000 signatures; incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko running as an independent, Belarusian Left Party "A Just World" chairman Sergey Kalyakin, Liberal Democratic Party chairman Sergei Gaidukevich, People's referendum member Tatsiana Karatkevich, United Civic Party chairman Anatoly Lebedko, economist Viktor Tereshchenko (who ran in the 2010 elections), unemployed teacher Zhanna Romanovskaya and Belarusian Patriotic Party chairman Nikolai Ulakhovich.

Belarusian Left Party "A Just World" political party

The Belarusian Left Party "A Just World" is a left-wing political party in Belarus, which opposes the government of president Alexander Lukashenko. Until October 2009 it was known as the Party of Belarusian Communists.

Sergey Kalyakin Belarusian politician

Sergey Kalyakin is a politician, leader of the Belarusian Left Party "A Just World".

Sergei Gaidukevich was the Liberal Democratic Party candidate in the 2001, 2006, and 2015 elections for the office of President of Belarus. He was defeated in all attempts, since incumbent Alexander Lukashenko received overwhelming majority of votes each time. Gaidukevich has higher military education and served as an officer in the armed forces. Later he was a government functionary associated with various military issues.

Although five candidates (Lukashenko, Ulakhovich, Gaidukevich, Tereshchenko and Karatkevich) obtained over 100,000 signatures, [5] the vast majority of Tereshchenko's signatures were declared invalid, [6] resulting in only four candidates (marked in bold) being able to contest the elections. [7]

Election process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office

An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations.

CandidatePolitical partyInitiative groupSubmittedValid
MembersLeader
Alexander Lukashenko Independent10,577Mikhail Orda1,761,1451,753,380
Nikolai Ulakhovich Belarusian Patriotic Party 1,426Mikhail Vobrazaw159,805149,819
Sergei Gaidukevich Liberal Democratic Party 2,481Anatoly Khishchanka140,735139,877
Tatsiana Karatkevich People's Referendum1,993Andrei Dmitriev107,299105,278
Viktor Tereshchenko Independent946Oleg Nestsyarkov130,4046,699
Sergey Kalyakin Belarusian Left Party "A Just World" 1,510Valery Ukhnaliou480
Anatoly Lebedko United Civic Party 977Viktor Kornienko–0
Zhanna Romanovskaya Independent110Eugene Naporko7800
Sources: Nasha Niva, CEC, Belta

Party system

Unlike in other nations, Belarusian political parties do not hold very significant influence in parliament or in elections. For instance, Lukashenko himself runs as an independent instead of representing a political party. Opposition parties are allowed to exist, but only in a nominal sense as they hold virtually no power in government. [8] Tatsiana Karatkevich represented the "People's Referendum" in the 2015 election, which is an initiative created by a coalition of various opposition leaders instead of a political party. [9]

Campaign

The government allowed an unauthorized opposition rally in the capital, Minsk, to go ahead on the eve of the election without police intervention but Lukashenko warned that post-election protests would not be tolerated. On the same day, the winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature (announced just two days prior), Svetlana Alexievich, warned Europe to beware of Lukashenko's government as an alleged "soft dictatorship." [10]

Nobel Prize in Literature One of the five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

The Nobel Prize in Literature is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction". Though individual works are sometimes cited as being particularly noteworthy, the award is based on an author's body of work as a whole. The Swedish Academy decides who, if anyone, will receive the prize. The academy announces the name of the laureate in early October. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895. It was not awarded in 2018, but two names will be awarded in 2019.

Svetlana Alexievich Belarusian investigative journalist and non-fiction prose writer

Svetlana Alexandrovna Alexievich is a Belarusian investigative journalist, essayist and oral historian who writes in Russian. She was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time". She is the first writer from Belarus to receive the award.

Opinion polls

DateAgencyLukashenkoKaratkevichStatkevichNyaklyaeuLebedkoGaydukevichKalyakinUlakhovich
31 March 2015 NISEPI 34.2% –4.5%7.6%2.9%1.1%1.6%–
1 July 2015 NISEPI 38.6%1.1%5%4.7%4.2%3.9%3.1%-
30 September 2015 NISEPI 47%17.9%---11.4%-3.6%
Belarusian presidential election banner Belarusian presidential election banner 2015.jpg
Belarusian presidential election banner

Conduct

The CIS mission included 312 accredited observers from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, and the CIS Executive Committee. [11]

The OSCE/ODIHR long-term observation mission was led by Jacques Faure and included more than 40 observers, whilst the short-term observation mission had over 400 people. [12] The OSCE's Kent Härstedt suggested the vote may have been undermined by "significant problems," especially during the counting of the votes. "It is clear that Belarus still has a long way to go towards fulfilling its democratic commitments." [10]

Several cases of forced early voting were recorded, usually among students of state universities and workers of state organizations. [13] [14] [15] The "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections" group also registered the overestimation of turnout (half of independent observers noted that the actual number of early voters didn't match with the official turnout) and unreasonable interference in observers' work. [13]

On election day, independent observers noted several violations during the elections. In Barysaw, chairman of the District Election Commission didn't announce the results before calling somewhere (presumably the higher-level electoral commission). After his call, the observer states, the number of votes for the opposition candidate Karatkevich in the final protocol decreased from 219 to 77. [16] In Salihorsk polling station 24, the number of voters was announced to be 1,190, while the independent observer counted only 808 people. [17] A similar incident happened in Babruysk, where the official turnout on three polling stations differed from the observers' calculations by several hundred voters in each station. The observer was not allowed to watch the counting process. [18]

In Slonim, an independent observer noticed two packs of filled ballots thrown into the early voting ballot box. [19]

Results

Lukashenko's vote Lukasenko's vote.jpg
Lukashenko's vote

According to the Central Election Commission, more than 36% of voters used the early voting process, higher than in previous years. [20] Overall turnout was 87.22% – highest in Vitebsk Region at 91.08% and lowest in Minsk at 74.38%. [21] [22] Alexander Lukashenko won the election with 83.47% of the vote. [21] [23]

CandidatePartyVotes%
Alexander Lukashenko Independent5,102,47883.47
Tatsiana Karatkevich People's Referendum271,4264.44
Sergei Gaidukevich Liberal Democratic Party 201,9453.30
Nikolai Ulakhovich Belarusian Patriotic Party 102,1311.67
Against all386,2256.32
Invalid/blank votes48,8080.80
Total6,113,013100
Registered voters/turnout7,008,68287.22
Source: Belta

Reactions

Domestic

Head of the Central Election Commission, Lidiya Yermoshina is quoted to say: "I think the election campaign was civilized, cultured and calm." [10]

Opposition leaders Vladimir Neklyaev, Anatoly Lebedko and Mikola Statkevich said they would not recognize the results. [10]

International

Flag of Germany.svg Germany – Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said from Luxembourg that the lack of repression against the opposition could pave the path towards easing sanctions against the country for four months. "There have been changes in Belarus, compared to the two past elections. If Belarus stays on this path, there is a willingness, and there is unanimity on this, to change the relationships with Belarus." However, he added that though there were few surprises, Belarus was changing, especially in regards to the "liberation of political prisoners" before the vote. [10]

Flag of France.svg France – Minister for European Affairs Harlem Désir said his country sought to encourage an opening, while also warning that backsliding on human rights could result in the re-imposition of sanctions. [2]

Analysts

An analyst at the BelaPAN Alexander Klaskovsky noticed that there were no mass protests and arrests of the opposition place this time.[ citation needed ] A comment by Agence France Presse suggested the changes in this election were due to Lukashenko's shrewdness in playing Western Europe against Russia and an attempt to decouple from Russia due to western sanctions it faced. [10]

Related Research Articles

Politics of Belarus

The politics of Belarus takes place in a framework of a presidential republic with a bicameral parliament. The President of Belarus is the head of state. Executive power is exercised by the government, at its top sits a prime minister, appointed by the President. Legislative power is de jure vested in the bicameral parliament, the National Assembly, however the president may enact decrees that are executed the same way as laws, for undisputed time. Belarus's declaration of independence on 27 July 1990, did not stem from long-held political aspirations but from reactions to domestic and foreign events. Ukraine's declaration of independence, in particular, led the leaders of then Belarusian SSR to realize that the Soviet Union was on the brink of dissolving, which it did.

BPF Party

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Elections in Belarus

Belarus elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The National Assembly has two chambers. The House of Representatives has 110 members elected in single-seat constituencies elected for a four-year term. The Council of the Republic has 64 members, 56 members indirectly elected and eight members appointed by the president.

The People's Coalition 5 Plus was a political alliance in Belarus, that opposed the regime of president Alexander Lukashenko. At the legislative elections, 13–17 October 2004, the alliance won no seats. The coalition is formed by the following parties:

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Constitution of Belarus

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References

  1. ↑ Parliament approves 11 October 2015 as Belarus president election date Archived July 4, 2015, at the Wayback Machine . Belta, 30 June 2015
  2. 1 2 European Union on course to lift Belarus sanctions despite vote concerns DNA India, 12 October 2015
  3. ↑ "The release of six political prisoners should not overshadow ongoing human rights violations". Worldwide Movement for Human Rights (in French). Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  4. ↑ "What Makes the 2015 Belarus Presidential Campaign So Different?". Belarus Digest: News and analytics on Belarusian politics, economy, human rights and more. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  5. ↑ Number of voter signatures in the signature lists Central Election Commission
  6. ↑ Preliminary data about true signatures to nominate candidates for Belarus presidency released Belta, 1 September 2015
  7. ↑ Republic of Belarus IFES
  8. ↑ "Political Parties in Belarus - Do They Really Matter?". Belarus Digest: News and analytics on Belarusian politics, economy, human rights and more. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  9. ↑ "A Belarus People's Referendum". European Endowment for Democracy . Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Belarus' Alexander Lukashenko Looks to Eased Sanctions But OSCE Queries Poll NDTV, 12 October 2015
  11. ↑ "Election 2015. CIS observers release interim report on Belarus election campaign" . Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Election 2015. Harstedt: OSCE, Council of Europe's invitation to observe Belarus' president election is a good sign" . Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  13. 1 2 The Human Rights Center “Viasna”. "Final report on early voting at the elections of President of the Republic of Belarus in 2015". spring96.org. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  14. ↑ Минск: На предприятиях и в общежитиях принуждают голосовать досрочно
  15. ↑ В государственных вузах наблюдается давление на студентов в связи с выборами
  16. ↑ The Human Rights Center “Viasna”. "Barysaŭ: chairman consults higher commission before announcing results of voting". spring96.org. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  17. ↑ The Human Rights Center “Viasna”. "Salihorsk PEC No. 24 overestimates turnout by four hundred people". spring96.org. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  18. ↑ The Human Rights Center “Viasna”. "Babrujsk: massive overestimation of turnout on election day". spring96.org. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  19. ↑ The Human Rights Center “Viasna”. "Observer registers stuffing of ballots at polling station No. 11 in Slonim". spring96.org. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "Рекорд пал. Досрочно проголосовали 36,05% избирателей". TUT.BY. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  21. 1 2 Сведения о результатах голосования 11 октября 2015 года
  22. ↑ "Выборы Президента Республики Беларусь 2015" . Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  23. ↑ Belta: Лукашенко победил на выборах Президента Беларуси
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