Belarus election unlikely to be fair-US ambassador :: Charter'97 :: News

Belarus`s poor record of past elections and severe bias in the state media make it highly unlikely next year`s presidential election will be fair, the U.S. ambassador told Reuters on Friday. Alexander Lukashenko, accused in the West of undermining human rights since coming to power in 1994, is eligible to run again by virtue of a constitutional change approved in a referendum, dismissed outside Belarus as rigged.

Ambassador George Krol said in an interview with Reuters that establishing unbiased media and ensuring Belarus`s 10 million citizens had access to a cross-section of views was a key to upholding basic democratic principles in the election.

"If the conduct of parliamentary elections and the referendum is a guide, if it is simply a repeat ... which denied Belarussians access to any alternative views, it does not look like this election will be conducted freely and fairly," he said.

"We see that the state media monopoly refuses to carry objective reports."
Results from last year`s referendum gave Lukashenko nearly 80 percent support for a proposal to lift all limits on the number of terms a president can serve. Opposition parties failed to win any seats in a concurrent parliamentary election.

The liberal and nationalist opposition has overcome recurring rows and named independent Alexander Milinkevich as their single challenger to the president, who remains genuinely popular, particularly outside the capital.

Krol said he hoped Belarus could undergo democratic change if Milinkevich came to power.

"Should Milinkevich be elected by the Belarussian people freely and fairly, we could expect there would be changes with respect to the democratic rights of the Belarussian people," he said.

Washington says Lukashenko is the "last dictator in Europe", citing crackdowns on dissent, poll manipulation and adherence to Soviet-era economics. The European Union has imposed sanctions.

Lukashenko denies allegations that his administration has undermined fundamental rights, says he has spared his 10 million people the uncertainties of other post-Soviet states and accuses the West of engaging in an "information war" with Belarus.