Elections in Tolochin are falsified before elections :: Charter'97 :: News

After publishing preliminary data about registration of candidates to local sovets it became clear that we will have elections but we will not have choice. Almost in all election districts there are non-alternative candidates from power. Political parties suffered especially serious loses. Power gloats over and hints on weakness of political parties and public organizations. This is right. But it means that political system of the country is weak. First of all citizens will lose, because political parties express will of people.

This time, as earlier, mostly chiefs of enterprises will represent interests of people. Because it is easier to become candidate from working collective.

For example chairman of village sovet Chechetkin having worked for four years in one district decided to run for position in another – neighbor collective farm.

Another person – engineer of collective farm “Giant” was not allowed even to become registered candidate. He was put forward by Tolochin district committee of Party of communists of Belarus. But he was not registered by election commission. As it is written in protocol he was not registered “according to article 66 of Election Code for not presenting document about presence of lower organization”.

Five layers in Tolochin, Vitebsk and Minsk looked surprisingly at this paper, compared it with article of Election Code and promised successful result of bringing protest on decision of commission. In executive committee that established commission, protest didn’t find warm reception.

Is it easy to protest decision of election committee? My personal experience shows that it is not possible just submit application without scandal. We didn’t succeed to send it by fax as it is done in civilized society. First in election commission we were told wrong fax number, than in executive committee we were told that they don’t have paper…
Finally the only alternative candidate in all election district was not registered. Elections to Tolochin district sovet will be non-alternative again.

Nikolay PETRUSHENKO, colonel in reserve, people’s deputy of USSR, member of PCB