Presidential Elections in Belarus
International
Observer Mission of the I.P.O.
Report
and Recommendations
Minsk / Vienna, 11 September
2001
P/RE/17292c-is
The
President of the International Progress Organization, Professor Dr. Hans
Koechler, visited the Republic of Belarus from 7 to 10 September 2001 in order
to observe the presidential elections on 9 September 2001.
In
his capacity as international observer, he visited numerous polling stations in
and around the capital Minsk, and on the countryside. He inspected polling stations
not only on election day, but also on the two preceding days (Friday and Saturday)
in order to monitor so-called “advance voting” (which is a specific feature
of elections in Belarus according to Art. 53 of the Electoral Code). Prior to
the election day, he met with presidential candidate Sergei Gaidukevich,
Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), in the party’s headquarters.
He also held consultations with officials of the
OSCE-Advisory and Monitoring
Group Belarus and of the
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights (ODIHR), and met with members of the
International Limited
Election Observer Mission for the presidential election in Belarus, a joint
initiative of the OSCE, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the European Parliament.
Professor Koechler undertook his observer mission in the capacity as official of the
International Progress Organization (I.P.O.), an international NGO in
consultative status with the United Nations. On 7 and 8 September he visited
polling stations in the district (rayon) of Minsk (in the city and
outside the city compounds) in order to observe advance voting. He paid special
attention to the arrangements for the protection of ballot boxes during the
night so as to avoid tampering with the results. In most, but not all, cases he
got reasonable assurances for the adequate and safe storage of the boxes with
the possibility for domestic observers to be present during the night. In that
regard, polling station no. 6 in the central electoral district of Minsk at the
student hostel of the Belarusian State University had undertaken
elaborate arrangements in co-operation with domestic observers. Professor
Koechler visited the station on 8 September and revisited it on 9 September
(election day) in order to familiarize himself with the adequacy of the
arrangements. He found that those were of exemplary nature documenting the
positive role of civil society, whereby the local electoral commission ensures
full transparency of the procedures by co-operating with the domestic observers
in conformity with the Electoral Code of the Republic of Belarus.
On
the day preceding the election, the President of the I.P.O. also visited polling
station no. 19 in the central electoral district of Minsk, School No. 1; polling
station no. 40, district of Minsk, in the village of Samochvalovici; and polling station no. 18, electoral district of Usda, in the village
Tieshenka. On the election day, 9 September, he inspected, among others, polling
station no. 1, central district of Minsk, in the Ministry of Agriculture;
polling station no. 13, electoral district of Smolavichi, in the village Barsuki;
polling station no. 20, central district of Minsk, in the School No. 42; polling
station no. 77 in the Military Academy of the Republic of Belarus in Minsk, and
he observed the taking of polls by a mobile polling station attached to polling
station no. 2, electoral district of Frundisky, in the prison hospital in Prison
No. 15/1 in Minsk.
The
President of the I.P.O. selected himself the polling stations to be visited
(without any consultation with governmental authorities, but after
consultations with other international and domestic observers). All visits,
except those to military and prison facilities, were made without any advance
notice to the authorities. In each polling station, Professor Koechler
interviewed the chairperson and members of the respective electoral commission
and the local observers. He revisited the polling station at the Military
Academy of Belarus and observed the counting of the votes immediately after the
closing of the polling station at 8 p.m. on Sunday, 9 September.
Professor
Koechler was able to assert that, with one exception, in all polling stations
visited the procedures of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Belarus were
scrupulously followed. He was able to inspect the registry of voters in each
polling station and to observe all electoral procedures. He got the
impression that the results of the voting in these stations are authentic and
correct. The counting of the votes in the station chosen by himself for the
purpose of observation (no. 77, Military Academy of Belarus) was undertaken
carefully and with the necessary transparency, allowing domestic observers to
fully witness all steps of vote counting. There was absolutely no doubt about
the correctness of the results. Professor Koechler was particularly impressed by the professional handling of vote-taking in
the prison hospital in Prison No. 15/1 by the staff of the mobile polling
station. In spite of the extraordinary circumstances in a prison environment,
complete secrecy of the voting was ensured and the inmates (citizens held in
administrative detention awaiting trial, i.e. still in the possession of their
political rights) were treated with the proper respect required by the
law.
However,
in polling station no. 1 in the central electoral district of Minsk, Ministry of
Agriculture, irregularities occurred. Local observers were repeatedly denied
view of the registry of voters. An inspection on the day after the election (10
September) revealed that, contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Code, the
Protocol with the results of the polling was not on public display. It had
apparently disappeared on the evening of election day. As a result of Professor
Koechler’s complaint, a copy of the Protocol (which was brought from
the office of the Central Electoral Commission) was put on display during the
afternoon of 10 September.
Overall,
the President of the I.P.O., having observed last year’s parliamentary
elections in Belarus (see his earlier report at
http://i-p-o.org/Belarus-elections.htm),
was able to notice a considerable improvement in the handling of electoral
procedures according to the regulations of the Electoral Code of Belarus and to
general standards of the rule of law. Having taken note of the views expressed
by the observer delegation of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) and by the International Limited Election Observation Mission of
the OSCE, the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, Professor Koechler
expressed the view that the overall conduct of the presidential elections in
Belarus was in conformity with good administrative standards and that everyone
had the chance to participate in the voting without administrative obstacles.
Based on his experience from last year’s parliamentary elections and on the detailed observation of the presidential elections, Professor Koechler made the following recommendations:
* To reconsider the instrument of “advance voting” (Art. 53 of the Electoral Code) and to replace it by another procedure that allows citizens to vote in a district other than their district of residence on the election day itself (similar to regulations existing in European countries such as Austria). (“Advance voting” over several days before the election day was one of the problematic aspects of the elections as it naturally created doubts among many local observers about tampering with the ballot boxes during the night hours when the polling stations are closed.)
* To make the display of a sample of the ballot (explaining the rules for duly filling the ballot form) in each polling station compulsory. (This measure could have avoided many invalid ballots.)
* To amend the Electoral Code in such a way that the voting results of each polling station, district commission, etc. are separately and immediately made available to the public so that the transparency of the compilation of votes on the national level is ensured.
* To abolish censorship of the media so that all candidates and political parties have equal chances and the incumbent president does not enjoy undue advantage over his competitors.
Having
met with one of the presidential candidates, Mr. Gaidukevich (who assured
Professor Koechler that he was treated fairly by the media and, upon detailed
questions, told him that he had absolutely no complaints in regard to the
handling of the electoral campaign by the authorities of Belarus), and having
checked specific voting results in polling stations visited by him, the
President of the I.P.O., by means of conducting his own “probability check”
based on the results from different polling stations that were verified by him
as correct, came to the conclusion that there is no doubt about the absolute
majority of votes won by the incumbent President. Professor Koechler, however,
was not able to certify the plausibility of the exact percentage of votes
officially attributed to each of the candidates because the Central Electoral
Commission made parallel vote tabulation impossible as it did not immediately
make available the results of individual polling stations.
The
President of the I.P.O. welcomed the OSCE’s readiness for constructive
dialogue with the Republic of Belarus and took note of the statement made by
President Lukashenko to CNN that the Head of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring
Group in Belarus will not be declared
persona non grata. Such positive
attitudes will help build relations of confidence and co-operation within the
wider framework of a Europe that does not single out or boycott any state and
that respects the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of all
states.
Professor
Koechler considers his mission, as international observer, not in the sense of
imposing a particular political program or procedure upon the Republic of
Belarus and its people, but as a contribution to reaching mutual understanding
on general democratic procedures – which can, however, not be applied in a
unified form. As observer who witnessed two important elections within less than
a year, the President of the I.P.O. expresses the hope that the people of
Belarus will find a way to avoid confrontation and to establish dialogue on the
major issues related to democracy, the rule of law and the international
relations of Belarus so that this country in the center of Europe will not be
left out in the political periphery, but will be fully integrated into the
international community and the community of European nations. This will require
further improvements of the democratic process, which can only take shape
without foreign interference. The legitimacy of all institutions of the Republic
of Belarus, whether Presidency, Parliament, or Government, will best be ensured
by an improvement of democratic standards and practices based on comprehensive
dialogue on the national level, and by increased co-operation – in the
political, economic and cultural fields – on the international level.
END/Presidential
Elections in Belarus 2001/International Observer
Mission/Report/11-09-01/P/RE/17292c-is