CEE News Archive

U.S. Calls Belarus Vote for Leader Invalid

MINSK, Belarus, March 20 — The United States declared the results of the president election in Belarus invalid on Monday and called for a new race, even as President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko defiantly swept aside criticism and declared himself the winner of a third term.

In an impassioned appearance hours after state television announced that he had won nearly 83 percent of the vote, Mr. Lukashenko exuded confidence and said the outcome had "convincingly demonstrated who the Belarussians are and who is the master of our house."

He said he was unafraid of further economic and political isolation after an election that Washington and international observers described as illegitimate, rigged and held under widespread repression.

"The United States does not accept the results of the election," said Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman. "We support the call for a new election."

The principal opposition candidate, Aleksandr Milinkevich, who received 6 percent of the vote, according to the government's initial count, also declared Mr. Lukashenko's presidency illegitimate."We are simply not going to recognize the election," he said, calling for a new vote to be conducted with new election commissioners and a campaign free of arrests and harassment.

Several thousand opposition demonstrators once again ignored warnings that they could be arrested or beaten, and returned in the evening to a central square in Minsk to continue peaceful protests against the results.

But the crowd that appeared Monday was smaller than that on Sunday, and Mr. Milinkevich's campaign manager, Sergei Kalyakin, acknowledged the difficulties of challenging the deeply entrenched power of Mr. Lukashenko, often referred to as Europe's last dictator. "The number who came to the square was not enough," he said. "We need 10 times more."

By late Monday the number of protesters dwindled to several hundred, but those who remained appeared determined to stay, pitching tents and locking arms around them. For a second night the police refrained from dispersing them, but blocked others from bringing food, clothing or blankets.

Many in the crowd, and even Mr. Milinkevich himself, said they were disappointed that they had not been able to rally more people. He said they would stay through the night if allowed, but hinted at a concession. "I think that the dictatorship will fall, not on the day of elections," he said on the edge of the crowd. "I can't say when, but I feel its days are coming to an end."

Unsure that it can muster and maintain large crowds in the face of official threats, the opposition here has rested much of its diminishing hope on international disapproval.

Reaction has broken along familiar lines, with Western organizations and officials issuing condemnations and in some cases vowing to seek punitive measures against Belarus, and Russia and other former Soviet states celebrating Mr. Lukashenko's victory.

Echoing the Bush administration, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which brought 400 observers here, sharply criticized the election, noting harassment and arrests of opposition candidates, propagandistic coverage on state media and extensive irregularities in the counting of ballots.

"The arbitrary abuse of state power, obviously designed to protect the incumbent president, went far beyond acceptable practice," the report said.

Senior Bush administration officials said the United States would work with Europe to coordinate sanctions, like travel bans against those in the Belarus government believed to be responsible for the voting process. But American officials noted that they had numerous sanctions of this type in place.

Even as the European group issued its report, Mr. Lukashenko was several blocks away in a government auditorium, gruffly and at times crudely sweeping aside any questions about his victory or his leadership style.

The appearance was part news conference and part testimonial to Mr. Lukashenko's power, as the audience was stacked with his supporters and hand-picked visitors who described themselves as election observers. One pair of these self-described observers presented Mr. Lukashenko with a bouquet of roses.

Between statements of praise and bursts of applause, Mr. Lukashenko belittled the opposition's supporters as "children" paid by foreign governments, and described their demonstration on Sunday night as a display of weakness. "They were 14- and 15-year-old children who were paid 20,000 Belarussian rubles," he said, referring to a sum worth a little more than $9. "So they worked for their 20,000 rubles."

He also took questions from journalists, sometimes appearing to enjoy testy exchanges and other times interrupting speakers or arguing about their questions.

When asked whether he could assure the safety of demonstrators, whom he threatened last week with having their necks wrung, he chided the journalist for posing the question. "I see your neck is in place," he said. "Why are you so concerned?"

As his appearance dragged on, reaching nearly two and a half hours, more denunciations appeared from the West.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, secretary general of NATO, said in a statement that Belarussians had been cheated of a choice. "The people of Belarus have the right to choose their leadership through a true democratic process," he said. "That right was again denied to them."

Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik of Austria, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, criticized the "climate of intimidation" that hindered the opposition campaign.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the union's commissioner of external relations, said the group would continue with democracy-building programs and relief aid and would not impose economic sanctions because that could hurt the Belarussian people. But she said European Union members were likely to widen a visa ban on top Belarussian officials.

In Moscow, underscoring the widening gap between the West and Russia over the conduct of elections and the state of reform in former Soviet republics, the Kremlin rushed to applaud the result. The Foreign Ministry said, "The elections were testament to a high civic awareness and an interest amongst the Belarussian people for stability."

The statement made no mention of the mass arrests, wide-scale intimidation and the fawning official media coverage of Mr. Lukashenko and his policies.