Legislative Election in Belarus (2012)

The elections to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus of the 5th convocation were appointed by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus ^[2] . In accordance with this decree, elections were scheduled for September 23, 2012 .

All deputies are elected in single - mandate majority districts . The average number of constituencies is 64,594. Candidates for parliament can be nominated by political parties, labor collectives and initiative groups of citizens. Only a citizen who has reached the age of 21 and who is not a criminal convict can become a deputy. To win in the first round, a candidate must collect over 50% of the votes who came to the polls. Turnout must be at least 50%. If no one has collected more than half of the votes, then in two weeks a second round will be organized, in which the two candidates who get the largest number of votes go out. Mandatory turnout in the second round is reduced to 25%.

The election process is organized at three levels: the first is the Central Election Commission, the second level is 110 district election commissions (DECs), and the third level is about 6,300 precinct election commissions (PECs). The CEC consists of 12 people, 6 are appointed by the president , another 6 are elected by the Council of the Republic .

OIC candidates can be nominated by political parties, social movements, trade unions, and initiative groups. According to the law, one third of the OIC members, the number of which cannot exceed 13, must be nominated by party and movement nominees. However, according to the OSCE / ODIHR , the selection mechanisms for candidates are not well defined, which makes abuse possible. DECs are formed by local authorities. The current composition of the district commissions was formed on July 9. 2,127 people claimed seats on commissions; 1,430 candidates were approved. Opposition parties nominated 199 representatives, 48 ​​of them became members of the OIC, which is slightly less than a quarter of the submitted applications.

According to the same rules, PECs are formed. Their organization ended by August 8, 2012. In total, 6301 plots were formed, 44 abroad. 84 781 people applied for membership in precinct commissions ^[3] , 68 945 candidates were approved. 45% of them are representatives of political parties and public associations, initiative groups of citizens occupied 39%. Opposition parties are represented by 61 PEC members ^[4] . In connection with the diplomatic scandal with the Kingdom of Sweden, the CEC of Belarus removed the polling station from this country ^[5] .

The chairman of the Central Election Commission Lydia Ermoshina predicted the turnout at the level of 67-70% ^[6] .

Closer attention was focused on the elections, as they could become one of the key points in normalizing relations between Belarus and the European Union . Since 1996, the EU , the US and the OSCE have not recognized the results of any election campaign, blaming the Belarusian authorities for abuses and falsifications . The claims of Western countries to the Belarusian elections have led to the introduction of various sanctions.

The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus decided to invite observers from the OSCE ^[7] . The OSCE / ODIHR agreed to send a standard Election Observation Mission, comprising a core team of experts, 40 long-term observers and 270 short-term observers.

Registration of candidates ended on August 23. 494 applications were submitted, 363 candidates were registered. Of these, 204 are nominees of eight political parties. 70 candidates represent the Liberal Democratic Party , 35 - the United Civil Party (this party filed 48 applications), 30 - the BPF Party (filed 33 applications). Registration was denied to such politicians as Aleksandr Milinkevich , leader of the For Freedom movement, Anatoly Levkovich, former leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party and other figures ^{[8] [9]} . In four districts, one candidate is registered, that is, there the elections will be uncontested. In this case, in order for the elections to take place in these constituencies, more than 50% of voters must come to the polls ^[6] .

About half of the registered parties refused to vote, protesting, in their opinion, the undemocratic regime and political repression. The United Civil Party and the BPF Party promise that they will try to convey their ideas about the current situation to the citizens during the campaign, and a few days before the vote, their representatives will withdraw their candidacy, boycotting what they think are unfair elections ^{[8] [10]} .

In preparation for the parliamentary elections, some opposition politicians called on the Belarusian opposition to boycott the elections. They explained their position by the fact that, in their opinion, in preparation for the election, the authorities would commit numerous violations, while the election results themselves would be falsified. It is assumed that in these conditions, the boycott of the elections by the opposition can strike at the legitimacy of parliament in the eyes of Western countries.

By mid-September, 117 opposition candidates continued to participate in the elections: 38 represented the United Civil Party , 31 represented the Belarusian Popular Front Party , 29 represented the Belarusian Left Party "Fair World" , 11 represented the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Gromada) . 13 candidates also represented the public campaign “ Tell the Truth ” (among them - two members of the Belarusian Popular Front Party and five members of the BSDP (G)), 40 people - the public movement “For Freedom” (30 of them are members of various parties) ^[11] . By September 21, 49 candidates from all opposition forces remained in the elections, as well as several dozen candidates who did not declare their connection with existing parties, movements and organizations ^[11] .

On September 15, the PBNF and the UCP held their congresses, at which it was decided to withdraw their candidates due to non-compliance with the conditions (release of political prisoners and ensuring transparency of elections) ^[12] . On September 21, the UCP openly called for a boycott of the election ^[13] . By September 21, the youth organization Young Front , the organizing committee of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party , the organizing committee of the Belarusian Movement ( Belarusian. Belarusian rukh ), the Belarusian Independent Trade Union of Radio Electronics Industry and the Union of Belarusian Intelligentsia also called for a boycott of the elections ^[13] . Earlier, the leader of the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front, Zenon Poznyak, called for an active boycott of the elections ^[14] .

Belarusian legislation guarantees the right of candidates to free airtime on radio or television, as well as to free placement of materials in local newspapers. However, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee notes censorship during the campaign stage ^[15] . In particular, the Supervisory Board for monitoring the observance of the procedure and rules for conducting election campaigns in the mass media included only officials of the Ministry of Information, journalists of state-owned media and representatives of state-supported journalists of the Belarusian Union, and non-governmental media journalists and members of the independent Belarusian Association journalists were not members of the council ^[15] . In the first week of the broadcast of the pre-election speeches, it became known of at least five cases of television and radio refusals to broadcast the speeches of independent candidates, although at least three speeches nevertheless aired ^[15] . There were cases of refusal by local newspapers to allow independent candidates to print, as well as cases of printing censored versions of materials ^[15] . According to OSCE estimates, less than 1% of the TV’s news time was devoted to political parties and an independent candidate, compared to about 60% of the time devoted to the president ^[16] .

Starting September 1, the first-level tariff rate was increased by 7%, which led to higher salaries for public sector employees. According to independent analysts, raising salaries is a populist measure closely associated with elections ^[17] .

A pro-government candidate withdrew shortly before the election in Gomel’s constituency in Gomel , and a UCP candidate withdrew as part of a campaign to boycott the elections, and the only candidate left was a representative of the LDPB party, which calls itself a “constructive opposition” but does not participate in meetings of democratic forces ^{[ 18] [19]} . According to unconfirmed information, the ex-candidate was in disgrace, and a criminal case is being prepared against him ^[20] .

On September 18, early voting began in Belarus. Until September 22, it was possible to vote from 10 to 14 and from 16 to 19 hours in the premises of polling stations ^[21] . However, after the start of the process, independent observers and human rights activists began to record the facts of forced early voting among students who were forced to come to polling stations under the threat of eviction from dormitories, deprivation of scholarships, or other problems. Such cases were recorded in Minsk ^{[22] [23] [24]} , Gomel ^[25] , Grodno ^[26] , Brest ^[27] , Novopolotsk ^[28] , Baranovichi ^[29] and other cities. According to human rights activists, police officers were forced to vote ahead of schedule in Ivatsevichi ^[30] . The process of early voting was riveted on the special attention of independent observers, since, in their opinion, it is convenient to organize ballot box stuffing and other types of fraud during early voting ^[21] . There is a discrepancy in the appearance of voters who voted ahead of schedule according to the documents and real in certain areas, which sometimes reaches several times ^{[31] [32] [33]} .

As of September 22, the CEC did not satisfy complaints of violations during the early voting. According to CEC Secretary Nikolai Lozovik, it is not surprising that early voting is widespread “ in urban areas, where there are more young mobile populations, where students, young workers on the day off tend to go out of town, help complete agricultural work or just relax ” ^{[ 21]} . According to the Central Election Commission, about 26% of voters ^[34] took part in early voting in parliamentary elections, and 18% according to independent observers ^[35] .

Turnaround

According to preliminary data of the CEC, the turnout was 74.2% ^[1] . The largest turnout was recorded in the Bykhov constituency (93%), the smallest - in the Svisloch constituency No. 94 in Minsk (53.6%):

According to independent observers, the turnout voiced by the Central Election Commission is greatly overstated, and elections were not held in a number of districts ^{[36] [37]} . It is assumed that in some cases, the turnout was overstated during early voting, which included coercion of students and public sector employees to vote ^[36] . In addition, according to human rights activists, shortly before the closure of polling stations on the main day of voting, some leaders of precinct election commissions struck out part of the voters who did not come to the polls so that the total number of voters in the polling station becomes smaller and the percentage of voters increases.

At the same time, the campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”, the project “Observation of Elections: Theory and Practice” and observers from the Belarusian Christian Democracy together with the campaign “For Fair Elections” independently monitored the turnout. According to the secretary of the BCD organizing committee, the figures of three independent groups of observers differ by no more than three percent ^[38] . According to observers from the BCD and For Fair Elections, twenty minutes before the end of voting, the turnout was 38.7%, together with early voting ^[38] .

On the afternoon of September 23, the independent newspaper Nasha Niva published a forecast of which candidates would win the election (membership in the “power vertical” was taken as a criterion), and all the predictions came true ^{[20] [36]} . Not a single representative of the opposition parties and independent candidates to the House of Representatives passed. In the Novobelitsky district of Gomel, where the registered pro-government candidate was disgraced due to the corruption case, the elections were declared invalid, and re-elections will be held there.

The deputy corps has been updated almost completely - only 21 deputies of the previous convocation will continue to work ^[39] (the remaining deputies of the previous convocation did not nominate themselves). Among the new deputies there are 30 heads of administrative structures (chairmen and vice-chairmen of district executive committees and regional executive committees, heads of departments, committees and departments), six “ siloviks ”, 15 representatives of educational institutions (mainly school principals, faculty deans and university rectors), 6 - healthcare (chief physicians and department heads), 10 - of various industries (mainly managers, their deputies or heads of trade union cells of large enterprises - Gomselmash , Rechitsa hardware plant , BelAZ , etc.), including energy and utilities ^[39] . Several deputies represent agriculture, science, the judiciary, journalism, banking, the public sector in the services and sports sectors ( Vadim Devyatovsky , silver medalist of the Beijing Olympic Games in hammer throwing) ^[39] . 29 deputies of the new convocation are women ^[39] . 63 deputies are members of the NGO “Belaya Rus” ^[40] . Five deputies represent political parties - the Communist Party (3), the Agrarian Party (1) and the Republican Party of Labor and Justice (1), all the rest are non-party ^{[41] [42]} .

• OSCE OSCE observers noted the bias in the registration of candidates, the improvement of the processes of early voting and voting on election day, but also a significant deterioration in the transparency of the vote count ^[16] . The OSCE also drew attention to the arbitrary interpretation of the electoral law and the bias of the CEC ^[16] . In addition, due to the unilateral coverage of the elections in the central media, voters were not able to make an informed choice ^[16] . In general, according to the organization, a low level of trust in the electoral process was observed in the country ^[16] .
• CIS. CIS observers considered the elections transparent, open and in line with democratic standards, and called all the shortcomings technical ^[43] .

• Despite the fact that the majority of polling stations were located on school premises, all the buffets located at the polling stations required beer, wine, vodka, cognac and cigarettes ^{[44] [45]} .

• Political Parties of Belarus

• Election results

• OSCE / ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission Report July 16-18, 2012
• Preliminary conclusions and conclusions of the OSCE mission, 09.24.12
• Interim report of the CIS Observer Mission on the monitoring of the preparation and conduct of elections (July 25 - September 10, 2012)
• Statement by the CIS Observer Mission on the results of monitoring the preparation and conduct of elections of deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus