BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/01/2007

Elections after a bitter oil dispute

Belarusian voters cast ballots Sunday in local elections after a bitter oil dispute with neighboring Russia whose economically painful effects could undermine the ex-Soviet nation's isolated regime.

Opposition leaders, some of whom withdrew from the race on the grounds that they could not compete fairly, say the elections have taken place under tight official control and predict widespread falsification. But the polls still represent a rare opportunity to communicate directly with the electorate, with television under firm state control and little independent media allowed. Some 7 million voters are eligible to take part in the elections to 1,581 local councils.

The main opposition leader, Alexander Milinkevich, suggested the local elections would not accurately reflect public opinion, contending that they were being held ``under colossal pressure from the authorities'' and would be falsified. But he said the opposition would use the elections to tell voters about ``the dangerous situation in which Lukashenko has placed Belarus.''

Source:

http://www.eitb24.com/portal/eitb24/noticia/en/business/elections-in-russia-elections-after-a-bitter-oil-dispute?itemId=B24_29812&cl=%2Feitb24%2Feconomia&idioma=en