From: "mart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> SOfficial: Lukashenko wins Forward from mart. In Canada, CBC Radio News has been reporting for days that Lukashenko was far ahead in the polls and explained that this was largely because he had been able to maintain most of the Soviet era, social safety net and protect the people from the worst ravages of neo-liberalism and unfettered capitalism. Now, despite their own admission that hew was far ahead in the polls and his policies enjoy the support of the vast majority of the people, they have cynically jumped on the pro NATO, media bandwagon and denounced the elections and calling Lukashenko a dictator! I guess elections can only be "free and fair" *if * the people vote the right way. ----- Original Message ----- From: Barry Stoller Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2001 6:09 PM Subject: [C-I] Official: Lukashenko wins AP (with additional material by Reuters). 9 September 2001. Lukashenko Wins Belarus Presidency; Lukashenko Claims Win in Belarus. Combined reports. MINSK, Belarus -- Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko won a sweeping 78.4 percent of the vote in Sunday's presidential vote in this former Soviet republic, election officials said. Central Election Commission chairwoman Lidia Yermoshina told a news conference that 75 percent of the vote had been counted. Opposition candidate Vladimir Goncharik had 12.5 percent of the vote and Sergei Gaidukevich had 2.2 percent, she said. Alexander Lukashenko earlier claimed a sweeping victory Sunday in Belarus' presidential elections. "It was an elegant victory," Lukashenko told a news conference. He said his claim was based on partial counts from the Central Election Commission, but he did not clarify how much of the overall vote had been counted. Earlier, the commission reported that Lukashenko had 80.9 percent of the vote, but it also did not say how much of the vote had been counted. Opinion polls before the election had indicated Lukashenko would win by a large margin. The victory would give Lukashenko another five-year term and a mandate to pursue his goal of a merger with Russia -- and likely further isolate the former Soviet republic at the heart of Eastern Europe [from the clutches of neoliberalism]. Opposition candidate Vladimir Goncharik, a trade union leader who had warned of fraud in favor of Lukashenko, and centrist [read: openly procapitalist] politician Sergei Gaidukevich were far behind, according to the election commission's figures. Goncharik said he would not recognize the results of the vote. He accused Lukashenko of "seizing power" and vowed to protest. Voters turned out in gray, drizzly weather to cast ballots, and the commission reported more than 75 percent participation by early evening -- well above the 50 percent needed to make the vote valid. The voting was peaceful, although an explosion blew up a bench outside the U.S. Embassy in the capital of Minsk on Sunday evening. No injuries were reported and it was unclear whether the explosion was linked to the election. Tensions soared in this nation of 10 million before the vote, with police raids on independent media and opposition campaign offices. In recent weeks, former police agents [note that] have accused Lukashenko's government of sponsoring death squads to remove his critics. Lukashenko has denied the accusations. European observers had reported no serious irregularities in the balloting Sunday afternoon. Lukashenko's policies have unnerved many of Belarus' neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe, which are trying to shed their communist pasts and strengthen their ties with the West. Critics dub him the last dictator in Europe. Neighboring Poland and Lithuania are seeking European Union membership, which is likely to further isolate Belarus. With Poland in NATO and Lithuania heading there, Belarus is becoming a buffer state between the Western alliance and a Russia hostile to NATO expansion. Lukashenko, voting at the Minsk Sports Academy, dismissed allegations of vote fixing and brushed off suggestions that the election might not be recognized as valid by the West. "Our elections do not need anybody's recognition," he said. "There is no such thing in the legislation as Western recognition." Lukashenko enjoys genuine support, particularly among the elderly and in impoverished rural communities for maintaining order, salaries and pensions. His goal of creating a "union state" with neighboring Russia has appealed to widespread nostalgia for the Soviet era among many voters wary of the economic reform which has consigned many of their former Soviet neighbors to poverty. He has promised to boost wages and the farming and industrial sector. He has also pushed for a full merger with Russia, instead of the loose union that exists now. "Of course I voted for Lukashenko," retired journalist Vladimir Filimonov, 65, said while voting in Minsk. "He brought up our republic. ... He's paying pensions and salaries on time." Lukashenko has no doubts about his popularity. Asked as he cast his ballot who might replace him in five years' time, he said, "Who says this will be my last term in office?" ====================================================================== _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
