Brussels, 23/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 22 September, human rights defenders stated that the result of the presidential elections in Belarus on 11 October was already known, implying that President Alexander Loukashenko (who has been in power for 21 years) would be re-elected.
“These are presidential elections and we know the outcome of them. The legislation has not changed, and the human rights situation, like the electoral law, has not evolved. We can't speak of free and fair elections”, said the United Nations special rapporteur on Belarus, Miklos Haraszti, at a European Parliament debate on Belarus. “We have no illusion about the election results”, added the deputy head of the Belarusian Viasna Human Rights Centre, Valentin Stefanovic. He stated that the recommendations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had not been taken into account and legislative amendments had not been introduced, which would, however, have enabled “a correct count of the votes”. “We know how it will turn out for the elections”, he added. “These aren't elections but a re-election”, criticised Petras Austrevicius MEP (ALDE, Lithuania). OSCE observers will be deployed for the elections.
More generally, despite the release of six political prisoners this summer (see EUROPE 11386), Stefanovic says “it's important to realise that there hasn't been any structural change or substantial political change that would enable civil society not always to be put under pressure by the government”. In Haraszti's view, “there isn't any positive change in Belarus”. “This is the fifth episode of the serial. We have watched the same episode five times over. It's the same thing before each election. Each time, things have not changed. We need to wait until after the elections to see if we want to come closer to this president”, he said.
According to the European External Action Service (EEAS) director for the Eastern Partnership, Gunnar Wiegand, the main issue to ask the EU is whether it wants to be involved in Belarus, in order to succeed in generating permanent changes in the country. “This is the political choice that we will have to make (…) We will have to reflect on how we would like or want to plan relations with Belarus, with the government and with society. We will focus on the elections and on political and civil rights before taking further measures to generate change in the country”, he said.
In Stefanovic's view, the EU-Belarus dialogue could contribute to bringing positive change in Belarus. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)