Belarus

With the election of President Aleksander Lukashenko in 1994, Belarus saw a rapid rise in authoritarianism and a subsequent decline of democratic freedoms and civil liberties. The International Republican Institute (IRI) began assisting Belarusians in their struggle for democratic change in 1997, working in several key areas: political party strengthening, coalition building, women’s initiatives and youth leadership development. These programs are the foundation of IRI’s mission to support democratic organizations and help their leaders and activists prepare for public policy roles in a future democratic Belarus.

Political Party and Candidate Development

Belarus’ political parties are determined to build and improve their country and put it on a path towards freedom and democracy. In order to achieve this goal, 10 political parties and more than 200 nongovernmental organizations, formed a coalition, the Unified Democratic Forces (UDF), with a stated objective of “creating a democratic, prosperous, European Belarus.”

In 2008, IRI worked with the UDF and its leadership as it developed a strategy to run one UDF candidate in each of the 110 electoral districts in Belarus and to develop a platform for the 2008 parliamentary elections that all UDF candidates would support. IRI also trained candidates in campaign techniques including using technology to disseminate their message to a wide audience.

Youth Leadership Development

To ensure the future of democracy in Belarus, IRI is training the next generation of political leaders by offering them cross-cultural exchanges. These Belarusian activists, many who are new to the political process and traveling outside of Belarus for the first time, are exposed to other democratic young political activists, local elected officials and members of parliament. These exchanges offer the Belarusian youth a forum in which they can freely discuss the issues that challenge them and devise strategies to tackle those issues, and allow them to cultivate contacts and build networks with like-minded activists in neighboring countries which will provide future encouragement as they promote a more democratic society in Belarus.

Women’s Initiatives Women’s participation is vital to the lasting success of any democracy. IRI is working with political party leaders to encourage the inclusion of qualified women candidates in all elections and in the development of party messages which resonate with women voters.

Beginning in 2007, IRI conducted a series of trainings via video teleconference for Belarusian women activists who were interested in becoming more politically and civically active. Trainings utilized experienced U.S. female trainers and female Members of the Lithuanian Seimas (Parliament) to address topics requested by the Belarusian participants.

In June 2008, IRI’s Belarus program held a women’s training in conjunction with IRI’s Women’s Democracy Network for women from Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine who were interested in running as candidates or assisting on campaigns in their respective home countries. The training focused on public speaking, image creation and how to effectively articulate a message that responds to the concerns of voters.

While many of the countries of the former Soviet Union have made steps toward democracy since gaining independence, Belarus has experienced stagnation under the dictatorship of President Aleksander Lukashenko. Elected in 1994, Lukashenko’s rule has become progressively autocratic. In 1996, Belarus’ constitution was revised by national referendum to give the presidency greatly expanded powers. In October 2004, Lukashenko sponsored another constitutional referendum that removed presidential term limits. Lukashenko has also tightened his grip on the pro-democratic opposition forces in Belarus. Today, the law bans the gathering of more than two people without prior government approval, and the government controls all media.

In the midst of this repressive regime, pro-democratic forces have joined together to bring democratic change to their country. Following the creation of the UDF, the coalition has participated in all major elections. In 2005, the UDF implemented a process to select a single candidate to represent all pro-democratic forces in the 2006 presidential election. The candidate nominated was Aleksander Milinkevich. Milinkevich and the UDF campaigned vigorously in the lead-up to the March 19, 2006, presidential election. Using grassroots organization techniques, the opposition was able to increase Milinkevich's name identification and favorable ratings from 26 to 76 percent and 4.5 to 34 percent respectively. The elections failed to meet international standards and the government proclaimed Lukashenko the handy winner.

The Belarusian Human Rights organization, Viasna, compiled a list of 237 people who were arrested during the 2006 presidential campaign and, following a week of peaceful protests against the fraudulent March 2006 election, an additional 687 people were arrested and imprisoned, including opposition presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin. Following this period of unrest and increased harassment of the opposition, the United States instituted sanctions against the regime including, placing the country’s leaders on a visa ban list.

Following the January 14, 2007, local elections which again violated international standards, and due to an increase in repression against the opposition, including a mounting list of political prisoners, the U.S. Government applied additional pressure on the Belarusian government by freezing the assets of the primary petro-chemical concern, Belnaftakhim. With the support of the European Union, these sanctions started to take their toll, and in early 2008, nearly led to a complete severance of ties between Belarus and the United States as both countries recalled their Ambassadors.

However, as losses began to mount the regime slowly began to release its political prisoners, including Zmitser Dashkevich, the leader of Young Front. Russia’s invasion of Georgia on August 7, 2008, provided the final impetus for the government to attempt to normalize relations with the West; within two weeks, the final three political prisoners, including Alyaksandr Kazulin, were released.

During this period, the UDF was preparing for the September parliamentary elections. After developing public campaigns focused on the removal of social benefits and European integration, it turned its attention to developing a single list of UDF candidates for the elections with the goal of one candidate for each district. In July, the UDF submitted its list of candidates to the Central Election Commission; however, only 78 candidates were approved to participate in the parliamentary elections. Despite the vigilant efforts of the UDF to register and get out the vote, the September 28 elections again violated international standards and no opposition members were allowed to take seats.

The UDF is now focusing its efforts on its post-election strategy and strengthening its role in society as a viable alternative to the Lukashenko regime.

Political Overview

Chief of State: President Aleksandr Lukashenko

Type of Government: dictatorship

Suffrage: universal, age 18

Elections Calendar

Program Overview

Focus of Program: political party and candidate development, coalition building, youth leadership development and women’s initiatives

Funding Source: United States Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State