Belarusan authorities keen to avoid repeat scenario of 2010 elections

The Liberal Democratic Party’s call to hold early presidential elections should prompt the opposition to nominate a "single candidate" and limit the number of candidates.

While preparing for the 2015 elections, the Belarusan leadership will be cautious not to repeat the 2010 elections scenario, which caused a deep rift within Belarusan society and thrust Belarus into deeper international isolation. The Belarusan government is unlikely to consider holding presidential elections at an early date.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has appealed to the President, the Parliament and the Central Election Commission to hold early presidential elections in Belarus: in March – April 2015.

The next presidential elections in Belarus should take place no later than November 20th, 2015. In the past, presidential electoral campaigns have taken place in summer/autumn of 2001, in winter/spring of 2006, and autumn/winter of 2010. Elections have been called earlier than expected several times. However, the timing had little effect, if any, on the official results announced by the Central Election Commission.

Amid falling incomes in Belarus, President Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s electoral rating remains high at 39.8% (IISEPS polls). Events in Ukraine and the growing instability in the region due to the Kremlin’s aggressive policy have fuelled Belarusans’ demand for a strong leader who can guarantee political stability and meet their socio-economic needs. 

The Liberal Democratic Party describes itself as a “constructive” opposition to the current government. Its leader, Sergei Haidukevich, has twice run for the presidential office. Many experts believe he is President Lukashenka’s sparring partner. In 2010, Haidukevich withdrew from the presidential race at the nomination stage. Back then, there were several candidates offering different programmes. This divided the opposition electorate, and the differences between the opposition parties ultimately prevented them from adopting the joint strategy of boycott. Meanwhile, pro-Russian views and loyalty towards the LDP leader may have attracted some Lukashenka supporters who felt a change in leadership was overdue. 

In 2015, the authorities would like to avoid situations from the 2010 presidential campaign, such as numerous candidates who took citizens out into the streets on election day, unable to control them, and the subsequent crackdown on protesters by the security forces. The authorities’ heavy-handed actions caused a deep rift in Belarusan society and frustrated dialogue with the West, while the monetary and financial crisis and the bomb explosion in the Minsk subway made matters worse. 

For the Belarusan leadership, the events in Kiev in late 2013 – early 2014, while more tragic, bore a similarity to those in Minsk in 2010 as the systemic opposition had little effect, in their view. The Belarusan authorities fear that if the 2010 scenario repeats in Minsk, it could trigger a crisis of governance, which, amid instability in the region and the Kremlin’s geopolitical ambitions, could lead to undesired developments in the “Ukrainian style.” 

In the 2015 presidential elections, the Belarusan authorities would like to see a limited number of candidates with moderate rhetoric, who would be able to control their electorate. The Deputy Chairman of the LDP party, Haidukevich junior underscored, “Sergei Haidukevich and Lukashenka will be the candidates, and as soon as the elections are announced, the opposition will accelerate, hold their Congress in the same week (we’ll help to accelerate them) and nominate a candidate from the opposition. Maybe they will fail to agree among themselves – then we’ll have two candidates from the opposition. We do not believe there will be anybody else.” 

This article was originally published on Solidarity with Belarus Information Office