Manipulation of the final outcome of the 2006 presidential election in Belarus
Reply to Written question
| Doc. 12295
| 19 June 2010
Written Question
No. 573 by Mr Omtzigt (Doc.
12015)
President Lukashenko of Belarus stated publicly that he ordered
the manipulation of the final outcome of the presidential election
in his country in 2006. He did this for “psychological reasons”
(source: interview with president Lukashenko in Russia’s Izvestia
newspaper on August 27, 2009).
President Lukashenko now revealed that the original outcome
was a victory of his candidacy with 93% of votes cast and that he
ordered to reduce his margin of victory substantially.
Elections should be free and fair and the counting process
and publication of results should be fully transparent. The central
electoral committee should verify and officially validate the final
outcome of the presidential election.
The Council of Europe has opened a dialogue with the Belarus
authorities. In this dialogue, the Council of Europe should uphold
the values of democracy and the rule of law.
Mr Omtzigt,
To ask the Committee of Ministers,
1 Will the Committee of Ministers ask its Chairman to raise
the lack of clarity surrounding the outcome of the 2006 presidential
elections in Belarus and ask the Belarus authorities to publish
the formal documentation concerning the final result of the counting
of the votes in these elections and the officially validated outcome
by the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus?
Will it ask the Belarus authorities to give the election result
of each province both before and after the decision?
2 Will the Committee of Ministers ask the President of Belarus
to publish the documentation concerning the decision making process
on the final electoral outcome and the officially validated result
of the 2006 presidential elections?
3 Will the Committee of Ministers send all the requested
documents to the Parliamentary Assembly within three months?
4 What is the opinion of the Committee of Ministers on the
comments by President Lukashenko concerning his own intervention
for his re-election?
5 With these documents in hand, does the Committee of Ministers
accept the integrity of the final outcome of the 2006 presidential
election and consider the published result as a valid result and
reflection of the free will of the Belarus people?
Written Question No. 585 by Mr
Omtzigt (Doc. 12244)
The people of Belarus have a right to know whether European
countries consider the elections in Belarus as free and fair and
have a right to see the documentation regarding these elections.
That is why question 573 to the Committee of Ministers (Doc. 12015) hereunder was tabled in September 2009:
“1. Will
the Committee of Ministers ask its Chairman to raise the lack of
clarity surrounding the outcome of the 2006 presidential elections
in Belarus and ask the Belarus authorities to publish the formal
documentation concerning the final result of the counting of the
votes in these elections and the officially validated outcome by
the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus? Will
it ask the Belarus authorities to give the election result of each
province both before and after the decision?
2. Will the Committee of Ministers
ask the President of Belarus to publish the documentation concerning
the decision making process on the final electoral outcome and the
officially validated result of the 2006 presidential elections?
3. Will the Committee of Ministers
send all the requested documents to the Parliamentary Assembly within
three months?
4. What is the opinion of the
Committee of Ministers on the comments by President Lukashenko concerning
his own intervention for his re-election?
5. With these documents in
hand, does the Committee of Ministers accept the integrity of the
final outcome of the 2006 presidential election and consider the
published result as a valid result and reflection of the free will
of the Belarus people?”
As of yet, these questions
only appear to have been discussed in the 1067th meeting of the
Ministers Deputies on 7 October 2009 and no answer has yet been
given. Yet, the next presidential elections in 2011 approach fast
and we still do not know whether the last elections in March 2006
were free and fair.”
Mr Omtzigt,
To ask the Committee of Ministers,
1. How many Committee of Ministers
meetings have taken place since September 2009, how many times Belarus
has been discussed and whether ever a draft answer to these questions
has been discussed.
2. How many meetings between officials of the Council of Europe
and Belarus have taken place and at which of these meetings the
election results of 2006 and its documentation have been discussed
and asked for.
3. Whether it intends to answer these questions and question
No. 573 before the next part-session of the Parliamentary Assembly
(21-25 June 2010).
Joint reply by the Committee
of Ministers
1. The Committee of Ministers recalls
that in its reply of April 2006 to Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 1734 (2006) on “The situation in Belarus on the eve of the presidential
elections”, it condemned the methods applied by the Belarusian authorities
to falsify the results of these elections, held in March 2006, and
regretted that the whole process of these elections in Belarus “cannot
be considered as complying with democratic electoral standards […]
and that the official results do not reflect the will of the people
of Belarus.” In itself, this evaluation responds to the questions
asked by the Honourable Parliamentarian.
2. Since the adoption of this reply, the Committee of Ministers
has continued to follow closely the situation in Belarus, particularly
through the work of its Rapporteur Group on Democracy (GR-DEM),
where the issue is regularly on the agenda. The attention of the
Honourable Parliamentarian is drawn to the regular information provided
on this matter in the context of the communications of the successive
Chairs of the Committee of Ministers to the Parliamentary Assembly
sessions, as well as to the detailed reply addressed by the Committee of
Ministers on 13 January 2010 to Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 1874 (2009) on the “Situation in Belarus”.
3. As it underlined in its reply to
Recommendation 1734 (2006), the Committee of Ministers considers that “in order
to bring Belarus closer to the international community and the Council
of Europe, it is evident that there must be adherence to democratic
standards and the human rights situation must improve. One of the
keys to achieving that are internationally recognised free and fair
elections.”
4. While attending the swearing-in ceremony for the new President
of Ukraine, the Chair of the Committee of Ministers at the time,
Ms Calmy-Rey, met the President of Belarus on 25 February 2010.
On this occasion, Ms Calmy-Rey emphasised that a closer relationship
between the Council of Europe and Belarus meant that this country
would have to respect the Organisation's fundamental values, including
the correct holding of elections.
