10MINSK56, BELARUS: OBSTACLES TO GETTING ON THE BALLOT AND MONITORING

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Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
10MINSK56	2010-02-25 20:04	2011-08-30 01:44	UNCLASSIFIED	Embassy Minsk

VZCZCXRO3526
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHSK #0056/01 0562004
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 252004Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0695
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0051
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHSK/AMEMBASSY MINSK 0705

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000056 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EUR/UMB (ASHEMA), DRL (DNADEL), AND EUR/ACE (KSALINGER) 
EMBASSY KYIV FOR USAID (JRIORDAN AND KMONAGHAN) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS: OBSTACLES TO GETTING ON THE BALLOT AND MONITORING 
THE VOTE COUNT MAKE FOR LONG ELECTIONS ODDS 
 
MINSK 00000056  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. Summary:  With local elections just two months away, 
opposition parties in Brest, as elsewhere in Belarus, are facing 
government obstacles to gaining seats on election boards and in 
some case collecting signatures to get candidates on the ballot. 
 Nevertheless, opposition parties in Brest plan to coordinate 
their activities with the goal of creating a handful of 
transparent races where their candidates may then stand a fair 
chance of competing. End Summary. 
 
¶2. As Belarus prepares for polling in April to fill 21,300 seats 
on regional, municipal and local councils, opposition parties in 
the Brest Oblast (region) will have only minimal representation 
on the multi-tiered system of electoral commissions overseeing 
the nomination process and vote count.  During CDA's recent 
visit to Brest, opposition officials said that just seven 
representatives from opposition parties have been included in 
the region's 60 district-level election commissions.  Opposition 
parties, including the Belarusian Social Democratic 
Party-Gramada (BSDP-G) and Spravedlivy Mir, are represented in 
similarly low numbers on the 252 sub-district election 
commissions.  However, they expressed hope for more success in 
placing independent nominees on seats at the lower precinct 
level where votes are tabulated.  The CDA was unable to get the 
oblast government's perspective as no one was "available" to 
meet with him during his two day visit. 
 
¶3. Opposition leaders in Brest described some of the challenges 
facing them in the run-up to the April 25 local elections.  An 
initial concern centers on the makeup of electoral commissions. 
They worry that officials are choosing a "safe option" and 
selecting only the most compliant nominees.  Another area is 
"Early Voting," where they share concerns that results can be 
more easily manipulated during the extended voting period in the 
week prior to election day when, depending on the precinct, from 
10 to 60 percent of the ballots are cast. 
 
¶4. They also described recent problems in collecting signatures 
in support of nominees, citing a February 5 decision by Brest 
authorities to ban groups from soliciting signatures on eight of 
the city's major streets or within 50 meters of state or 
official buildings, which in the state run society of Belarus 
are quite prevalent.  According to Ihar Maslowsky, Head of BSDP 
(Gramada) in Brest Oblast, this ban makes the current election 
campaign more difficult as compared to previous ones.  Before, 
it was necessary to simply notify the authorities about the 
location of the nomination group.  He noted collecting 
signatures was an important part of any political campaign and 
said it was not clear why the Brest authorities were trying to 
hide the process in courtyards, quiet streets, and residential 
areas.  The Secretary of the Central Election Commission (CEC) 
Mikalay Lazavik acknowledged in the national press on February 
22 that local authorities in some regions were "excessively 
cautious" in limiting the venues where signatures could be 
collected.  He said the CEC had criticized local authorities, 
"but we have no right to overturn executive committees' 
decisions," he explained. 
 
¶5. Despite the obstacles, there are more signs of cooperation 
among opposition groups in Brest than at the national level. 
Representatives of the four parties and the For Freedom (FF) 
movement described how they are dividing shares of electoral 
districts to avoid direct competition with each other.  They 
also intend to focus candidates in precincts where there are 
opposition representation on election commissions.  According to 
the Belarusian Popular Front, final decisions on fielding 
candidate for their party will be made locally, not in Minsk, 
and will depend on an assessment of whether local electoral 
commissions include "democratic" members.  The BSDP-G is also 
committed to leaving decisions on participation to regional 
party leaders and the candidates themselves.  By contrast, the 
United Civic Party intends to coordinate its party participation 
decisions nationally.  The FF movement is planning to field 
candidates in races where they have some confidence there will 
be some degree of transparency, and Spravedlivy Mir has 
identified 27 candidates thus far for local council races in 
Brest. 
 
¶6. Comment: The opposition, showing more signs of cohesion at 
the regional level than in Minsk, is moving forward in the face 
of long odds to gain a modest footing in local government. 
Their willingness to participate in the election process is 
evidence that local opposition leaders hope to realize greater 
influence and protection from a seat within the system than as 
outside critic.  They acknowledge openly the limited authority 
that local government possesses, but they believe it will 
 
MINSK 00000056  002.3 OF 002 &#x0
00A; 
 
provide them a legal soap box to speak from, plus provide 
governance experience on their resumes, and allow them in 
partnership with local NGOs to solve local problems and build a 
following. End Comment. 
SCANLAN

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