BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

18/04/2006

Belarus re-appoints prime minister

ISN SECURITY WATCH (Tuesday, 18 April 2006: 12.28 CET) - Belarusian parliament on Tuesday re-appointed Syarhey Sidorski as prime minister after he had stepped down in accordance with the constitution when President Aleksandar Lukashenko was re-elected for a third term last month.

Lukashenko nominated Sidorski for the post and 103 deputies from the 110-seat parliament approved the nomination in a secret vote on Tuesday, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Sidorski had replaced Gennady Novitskyinin in December 2003.

Lukashenko won a third term in controversial 19 March elections that saw thousands of protesters hit the streets but fail to prompt a "color revolution" such as those that brought down long-time rulers in Ukraine and Georgia.

International observers condemned the vote as fraudulent.

Itar-Tass quoted Sidorski as saying on Tuesday that the new government would "accurately follow the course announced by President Alexander Lukashenko: to make a state for [the] people".

Sidorski is expected to report to Lukashenko later this week concerning the composition of his government

Source:

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=15511