OSCE SAYS BELARUSIAN ELECTIONS 'SIGNIFICANTLY SHORT' OF DEMOCRATIC STANDARDS...
Published:
20 October 2004 y., Wednesday
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice President Tone Tinsgaard, who led an OSCE short-term monitoring mission for the 17 October legislative ballot, said on 18 October that the elections fell "significantly short" of Belarus's OSCE commitments.
The OSCE refused to monitor the presidential referendum held the same day, even though it was invited to do so by Minsk. According to Tinsgaard, the biased referendum campaign by the Belarusian government "contributed to a highly distorted campaign environment."
Tinsgaard said the authorities raided the campaign offices of opposition candidates, coerced many groups of voters to cast ballots in the 17 October polls, and conducted biased coverage of election-relates issues in the media. OSCE monitors determined that in 60 percent of polling stations they visited the vote count lacked transparency and was practically uncontrollable.
Šaltinis:
RFE/RL's Belarus Service
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
At 11 years old, Michelito Lagrave is a veteran bullfighter, with more than a 160 kills to his name.
more »
20-year-old beauty queen Mariana Bridi da Costa by Saturday was dead.
more »
The 12-year-old is living rough in a UN school with his parents and nine siblings.
more »
The provincial elections will be the first to be organized by Iraq and held under Iraqi laws since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
more »
The three-day tattoo show - the first of its kind in Asia- is expected to draw about 5,000 people, as its showcases tattooists from about 25 countries around the world.
more »
The West Eastern Divan Orchestra is made up of 90 members from the Middle East.
more »
Joe the Plumber became a household name during the 2008 presidential campaign when Wurzelbacher questioned then-candidate Democrat Barack Obama about his tax policy.
more »
China's coldest city of Harbin played host to twenty-two couples getting married in sub-zero temperatures.
more »
Now in a global economic crisis, developers in Argentina are still promoting multi-million dollar, multi-polo-field properties as the cost-conscious alternative to traditional hot spots like Palm Beach.
more »
The ban on women entering the Iraqi Shi'ite shrine district of Khadimiya for the annual Ashura ritual is unprecedented.
more »