BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/03/2006

Early Voting Begins in Belarus

By YURAS KARMANAU

The Associated Press

MINSK, Belarus -- Polling stations opened Tuesday in Belarus for early voters in Sunday's presidential election, a closely watched contest that the opposition fears will be rigged in favor of the authoritarian incumbent.

After pushing through a widely contested referendum scrapping limits on how long a president can serve, Alexander Lukashenko is seeking a third term to lead the former Soviet republic. The man branded by Western nations as "Europe's last dictator" is widely expected to win.

Opposition leaders have called for peaceful protests if votes are counted fraudulently, but authorities' ban on any rallies Sunday has potentially set the stage for violent confrontation.

The main opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, has called on Belarusians not to take part in the early voting, calling it a ploy by authorities aimed at falsifying election results. The opposition contends it allows for multiple voting and ballot-stuffing at unguarded and unmonitored polling stations.

A university student who identified himself only by his first name, Andrei, out of fear of retribution, said students had been warned "that if we don't vote early, there could be problems." He said he had voted for "a free and European future" but declined to say whom he supported.

Others said they had voted early out of convenience.

"I did not come because we're forced, but because I'm going home to my parents' home in the country on election day," said Oksana Rublyako, a third-year university student.

Milinkevich told The Associated Press that he'd urged Belarusians not to take part in early voting "because there your votes will simply be stolen."

According to official statistics, as many as 30 percent of voters usually take part in early balloting, and the opposition fears those ballots could be manipulated. Opposition parties have been denied of virtually any representation on election commissions that monitor the vote.

There are some 7 million eligible voters in this nation of 10 million, according to Nikolai Lozovik, secretary of the Central Election Commission.

In addition to Milinkevich, Lukashenko is facing another opposition challenger and a pro-Lukashenko politician who is widely viewed as running to add electoral legitimacy.

Lukashenko has ruled with an iron fist since 1994, quashing dissent and opposition, and maintaining his grip on power through votes dismissed as illegitimate by his critics.

Source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/14/AR2006031400549.html

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