Statement by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Belarus elections

VIENNA, 17 October 2000 - The following statement regarding the Belarus parliamentary elections was issued by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austrian Foreign Minister Ferrero-Waldner.

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister Ferrero-Waldner, regrets that - according to a statement of the ODIHR Technical Assessment Mission - the 15 October 2000 parliamentary elections process in Belarus failed to meet international standards for democratic elections.

The Chairperson-in-Office takes note of the measures undertaken by the Belarusian Government in the run-up to the parliamentary elections leading to an improvement and a greater transparency of the electoral process. Although progress had been made to meet international standards for democratic elections, the implementation of the four criteria agreed by European institutions has to be considered insufficient to recognise these elections to be free and democratic.

Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner notes with disappointment that the Government's promise to do its utmost to achieve an atmosphere of trust and confidence was not fulfilled. Furthermore, it turned out that forces within the system pursued the objective to maintain unrestricted power in the country by favouring their own candidates. Constraint by the impact of the state controlled judiciary, economy and media the opposition had no fair chance to build up a visible political alternative.

The four substantive criteria of the international community - greater transparency of the election process; a climate of confidence and trust; regular access to state controlled electronic mass media for opposition parties, and above all, the strengthening of the functions of the parliament - will have to continue to serve as the basis for further democratic reforms leading to next year's presidential elections in Belarus.

Finally, the Chairperson-in-Office underlines the importance to keep up the dialogue with Belarus and ensures the Belarusian authorities and population that the OSCE will continue to support Belarus in strengthening its democratic institutions.