The Belarusian authorities ran the elections taking no chances to ensure the maintenance of the political status quo. Opposition candidates who offered even the hint of a threat were not registered, some TV debates were not broadcast to prohibit...

The 2012 parliamentary election in Belarus is over. The Central Elections Committee announced those who will be in the new parliament. A typical MP is a non-partisan male aged between 50 and 60. He made his career in state sector...

The 2012 parliamentary campaign election campaign ended in defeat of all political actors in Belarus. On the one hand, the Belarusian opposition was unable to mobilise society. On the other hand, the authorities received the expected results from a made up...

The international observers monitoring the parliamentary elections in Belarus present their preliminary post-election statement at a news conference in Minsk.  The international observation is a common endeavour involving the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Parliamentary...

Today's parliamentary elections are the simplest for Belarusian election committees. Because the majority of the opposition has boycotted the elections, the election committees have almost no need to rig the votes. In any event, when neither the observers nor...

Belarusian authorities do not allow even a minimal level of electoral competition and openly censor opposition candidates in the ongoing parliamentary election campaign. The campaign looks like a staged show in which the incumbent regime only needs to make sure...

The September 2012 Parliamentary elections offer a chance for the opposition to reconnect with the wider Belarusian population rather than retain the current status quo. Even though some economic pressure on the regime has been lifted by the...