Discussion on Belarusian Voting At PACE Session In Strasbourg :: Charter'97 :: News

Yesterday at the sitting of the European Council’s Parliament Assembly in Strasbourg a report and a discussion on the presidential elections in Belarus were held. The spokesman , Belgian MP Stefan Goris, as well as Germany and Lithuania parliamentarians declared that the election failed to meet standards of the Council of Europe and were not free. Stefan Goris on behalf of nine PACE monitors, underlined that the conclusions about the results of the ballot vote can be done on the grounds of the violations of law and the authorities’ negative declarations during the pre-election period. He named unequal conditions for the candidates in the mass media, pressure on activists, infringement of freedom of expression.

Goris believes that the policy of Belarus` isolation has proven wrong and called to send Belarus “a message of hope”, to start dialogue with civil society as well as with the authorities. As said by Goris, this could make the stance of the European Council towards Belarus different from the position of OSCE and European Union. As stated by Goris, every institution should have its own mission and strategy. But this approach was not entirely approved of by spokesman on Belarus Wolfgang Berendt, who said that a common approach of European institutions: the European Concil, OSCE and European Union,-- towards Belarus is essential.

Wolfgang Berendt said that the chance to demonstrate steps in the direction of democratization was lost during the presidential elections. However a civil society is emerging in Belarus, which should be supported, and a dialogue in the Belarusian society should be promoted. Berendt spoke against isolation, but proposed to demand the Belarusian authorities to abide by the principles of the European Council and follow democratic transformation.

Lithuanian MP Vatslav Stankevich was more harsh. He emphasized that in present state of affairs the transition to democracy in Belarus is unlikely. “I completely agree with the report stating that the election procedure in Belarus did not meet the European standards. This country can not be considered democratic”, – said Stankevich. He urged to invite to PACE not only a delegation of the so-called “chamber of representatives”, but opposition representatives too, and to find an appropriate form for this invitation.

The discussion did not have any positive results. It only showed the attitude of the PACE.

The representatives of the Belarusian delegations, both official and oppositional, did not participate in this discussion. They observed it from the guests’ seats. “The main thing for us is that the election was recognized not meeting international standards. We were also satisfied with the fact that the question of juridical legitimacy of Lukashenko is suspended,” – said Anatoly Lebedko, the head of the Supreme Soviet delegation.

Anatoly Lebedko considers that the future relations between the European Council and Belarus will be determined by the actions of Lukashenko and his government. The special guest status for Belarus can be resumed only after cessation of repression, abolition of capital punishment, growth of the parliament’s authority.