Belarusan Election

“A muzhik should know how to do two things: add and multiply.”

Pavel Borodin, state secretary for 

the Union of Russia and Belarus, 

on recent elections in Belarus

“In the Russian sense, a muzhik is defined not in the first place by
one’s sex, but by the condition of one’s soul.”

Ivan Starikov, former secretary of the political council of Russia’s liberal party, 

Union of Rightist Forces

On March 19, according to official data, current Belarusan President Alexander Lukashenko was reelected with 82% of the popular vote. But many voters disagreed with these results. In the first large-scale, sustained anti-government demonstrations in the 12 years of Lukashenko’s rule, thousands of demonstrators set up a tent camp in Minsk’s central October Square. In repeated street skirmishes with police the week after the election, hundreds of demonstrators were arrested. Reporters Without Borders reported that some 22 journalists had been arrested and 13 were being held for up to two weeks on charges of hooliganism.

International and domestic observers denounced the election results, citing election irregularities and fraud. On March 24, the European Union announced that it would impose sanctions on members of the Belarusan leadership in connection with the election, possibly including travel restrictions on Lukashenko and freezing of European bank accounts. The U.S. called for new elections and said it too would impose sanctions.

On March 24, OMON troops cleared out the tent camp and attempted to send demonstrators packing, many forcibly. But the next day, on March 25, thousands of protesters defied the government’s cordoning off of the downtown area with OMON troops (photo, above), and held huge rallies near the city center. “The authorities can only confront the striving of the people for change with persecution and violence,” shouted Alexander Milinkevich, the presidential candidate of the united opposition. Demonstrators carried red-and-white flags and handed out flowers.

Ironically, March 25 is a holiday in Belarus celebrating the country’s brief independence in 1918. Many demonstrators were arrested, including one opposition leader who led a march on the state prison. Milinkevich said that the opposition’s next organized demonstrations would be held on April 26, the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster.