The US and Germany considered the elections in Belarus fictitious
February 26, 2024
The US State Department classified as fictitious the elections for the country’s parliament and local councils, which took place the day before in Belarus. About this on the State Department website wrote department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Sunday, February 25 (local time). Miller said the vote took place “in an atmosphere of fear in which no electoral process can be called democratic.”
The representative of the US authorities also recalled that the Minsk regime continues to detain more than 1,400 political prisoners. “All independent political figures were detained or expelled. All independent political parties were denied registration,” the statement said. Additionally, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe refused to observe the elections, Miller added.
The same point of view is shared in Germany. “From our point of view, yesterday’s elections, like the August 2020 presidential elections, were just a simulation of elections. They were neither free nor fair and in no way met minimum democratic standards,” the spokeswoman said deputy of the German government, Christiane Hoffman. (Christiane Hoffmann).
The opposition was not allowed to participate in the elections
Parliamentary elections in Belarus “took place” the day before, on February 25th. Opposition representatives were not allowed to participate. This is the first vote in the country since the 2020 presidential elections, which sparked mass protests due to widespread fraud and irregularities. The results of these elections were not recognized by Western countries and the protests were brutally repressed by the authorities.
The parliamentary campaign included candidates from four political parties: the Belaya Rus organization, created in 2023 and working in support of the country’s ruler, Alexander Lukashenko, the Communist Party, which has existed since 1996, the Republican Party of Labor and Justice (RPTS) , which supports Lukashenko, and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPB), which calls itself a “constructive opposition” movement.
Tikhanovskaya appealed to ignore the elections
The leader of the Belarusian opposition, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, called the current elections “a military operation against our own people” and called on us to ignore them. “The so-called regime elections in Belarus today do not meet any democratic standards and are more like a military operation against its own citizens, the constitution and common sense. I call on Belarusians and the international community to categorically reject this deception” , said Tikhanovskaya. she said.
Lukashenko told reporters at the polling station that no one could unseat him. “None of their options, even the most radical ones, will work in Belarus. We know how to draw conclusions from our previous mistakes. Therefore, they have nothing to hope for,” he said. Furthermore, Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for almost 30 years, confirmed that he intends to run again for president in 2025 – for the eighth consecutive term.
Source: DW
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