McCain Statement on Sham Elections in Belarus

Crystal Benton
October 19, 2004

Washington, D.C. --Today Senator McCain issued the following statement on the situation in Belarus:

"If the world needed further confirmation that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is a Soviet-style autocrat moving ever further toward absolute rule, it now has it. Once again, Mr. Lukashenko has betrayed the proud people of Belarus.

"Sunday's national referendum required that over 50 percent of all registered voters approve constitutional change allowing Mr. Lukashenko to serve a third term. Gallup exit polls indicate that the President failed to receive the necessary 50 percent, and observers cataloged numerous irregularities. Coupled with the referendum were elections to fill 110 parliamentary seats. Despite similar Gallup polls which indicated different results, not one of these seats went to the opposition, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which had 270 observers on the ground, said that the elections "fell significantly short" of democratic standards.

"And yet Mr. Lukashenko proudly declared victory in the face of massive voter fraud, and his Central Election Commission reported 77 percent of voters supporting the referendum. By stealing this election, Mr. Lukashenko has cleared the way for a third term, beginning in 2006, and plainly hopes to be a president for life.

"Nothing could be worse for the people of Belarus. In boasting of his "victory," the President dismissed all criticism of the sham election, saying, "There is no dictatorship here and no violation of human rights." These assertions are patently false. Anyone who wishes to test them should ask General Vitaly Frolov, an opposition leader who was attacked by masked men outside his home. Or they could inquire after Mikhail Marinich, another opposition figure who remains imprisoned without being charged. Or question members of the Belarusian Party of Labor, which was liquidated by the Supreme Court, or the journalists and activists who have disappeared, or the people of Belarus who suffer oppression on a daily basis. We've seen this all before: a President for life, a rubber stamp parliament, a continual crackdown on every kind of freedom. This is dictatorship, pure and simple.

"The courageous people of Belarus know that the fight for freedom and a better life can be very difficult. But they should also know that the democratic peoples of the world will continue to stand beside them. These brave men and women should take courage from the knowledge that, despite setbacks like this stolen election, tyranny in their country will not forever endure. You will not be forgotten, and we will not cease in our efforts to support you. Your cause is just and noble and will one day be victorious. History and the democracies of the world are on your side."

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