1995 Belarusian Referendum
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A four-question referendum was held in
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
on 14 May 1995, alongside
parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
. The four issues were the possibility of giving the
Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...
equal status with Belarusian, whether new national symbols should be adopted, whether there should be economic integration with
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and changes to the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
that would allow early elections if Parliament systematically violated the constitution.Nohlen & Stöver, pp255-256 According to official results, all four were approved by at least three-quarters of voters, with a turnout of 64.8%. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly stated that the referendum violated international standards. Members of the opposition claimed that the organisation of the referendum involved several serious violations of legislation, including the constitution.


Background

Before becoming president in 1994,
Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...
had tried to hold a similar referendum on state symbols in 1993 while still an MP, but had failed to obtain parliamentary support. Two months before the May 1995 referendum, Lukashenko proposed a flag design that consisted of two small bars of green and one wide bar of red. While it is not known what became of this suggestion, new designs (called "projects" in Belarus) were suggested a few days later, which were then put up to vote. On 11 April 1995 Parliament considered the questions for the referendum, approved the date, but approved only the question regarding economic integration with Russia. Lukashenko declared that he would not change his decision and would accept personal responsibility for the referendum, and left the Parliament, announcing that it would be his last discussions with Parliament in its current form. Nineteen MPs from the Belarusian Popular Front, including Zianon Pazniak, Piatro Sadoŭski and others, decided to carry out a
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...
within Parliament, protesting against the president organizing the referendum despite the parliament's decision. They were beaten and forcibly removed by
OMON OMON is a system of military special police units within the Armed Forces of Russia. It previously operated within the structures of the Soviet and Russian Ministries of Internal Affairs (MVD). Originating as the special forces unit of the So ...
. The parliamentarians sued the special forces for battery but were unsuccessful. A conciliatory commission was called upon to resolve the conflict between the President and Parliament, and decided in favour of President Lukashenko.


Questions

Voters were asked four questions: # Do you agree with assigning the Russian language the status equal to that of the Belarusian language? # Do you support the actions of the President aimed at economic integration with Russia? # Do you support the suggestion about the introduction of the new State flag and State Coat of Arms of the Republic of Belarus? # Do you agree with the necessity of the introduction of changes into the acting Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, which provide for early termination of the plenary powers of the Supreme Soviet by President of the Republic of Belarus in the case of systematical or gross violations of the Constitution?


Results


Reactions


Domestic

The opposition questioned the validity of the 1995 referendum itself. According to Siarhei Navumchyk, former parliament member, the referendum was illegal and thus its results have no legal power: * According to the 1995 Law on national referendums (Закон аб усенародным галасаванні (рэферэндуме)), the national symbols and official language were not allowed to be questioned on a referendum at all; * Formalities of approval of the referendum by the Parliament have not been carried out; * The opposition had limited access to media, observers from the opposition have reported fraud in vote counts. The opposition raised several other issues related to organisation of the referendum: * The referendum was preceded by a heavy campaign in the overwhelmingly state-owned media that stressed the fact that the then current emblem was used by Nazi collaborators ( Belarusian Central Council) during the Eastern Front. For example, the first leader of the post-Soviet Belarus,
Stanislav Shushkevich Stanislav Stanislavovich Shushkevich (15 December 1934 – 3 May 2022) was a Belarusian politician and scientist who served as the first head of state of independent Belarus after it seceded from the Soviet Union, serving as the first chairman ...
, in an interview mentioned that Pahonia was portrayed by the state-owned media then as a "fascist symbol". * Before the final announcement of the results of the referendum, Lukashenko's Chief of Administration Ivan Titenkov personally hoisted down the old flag from the Palace of Government and shredded it in public. * The referendum question was formulated in a vague way: a number of people claimed to have voted in the belief that the "new" symbols were the ones already introduced in 1991 * The number of voters who approved the symbols, as only 48.6% of the total electorate approved of the new emblem, since over a third of the eligible voters did not express an opinion. Some claim that this failure to win a majority is a violation of the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
, but the imperfection and incompleteness of the Belarusian Law did not resolve the issue (in particular, the Constitution does not define the acceptance threshold). * Finally, the
BPF Party The BPF Party (; ) is a banned political party in Belarus. It was ''de facto'' established after the split of the social movement Belarusian Popular Front ( abbr. BPF; , ) in 1999. The Belarusian Popular Front was founded during the Perestroika ...
and other influential opposition parties state that the referendum, followed by mass closing of
Belarusian language Belarusian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language. It is one of the two Languages of Belarus, official languages in Belarus, the other being Russian language, Russian. It is also spoken in parts of Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Polan ...
schools and minimizing of Belarusian language programmes on national TV and radio, has had a harmful effect on the Belarusian language and culture. According to Mikhail Pastukhov, a former judge of the Constitutional Court of Belarus, the referendum are "invalid from the legal point of view and should be abolished". He agrees with the point that numerous issues related to national history, traditions, culture and language were put to the referendum in violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus. According to Pastukhov, Pahonia and the white-red-white flag remain the state symbols of Belarus
de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...
.


International

The Russian
State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
issued a statement supporting the official results of the referendum. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly stated that the referendum violated international standards and noted concerns over governmental control over the media, interference with the voting process, and obstacles to the opposition's activities. The US Department of State also criticized the Belarusian government over the referendum."Parliamentary elections in Belarus, the U.S. State Department Statement on the elections and referendum in the Republic of Belarus", ''Belarusian Business Newspaper'', 22 May 1995


Aftermath

The decrees about the new state flag and new
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
were signed by Lukashenko on 7 July 1995.


References

{{Belarusian elections Referendums in Belarus
Referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
Alexander Lukashenko Constitutional referendums National symbols of Belarus Languages of Belarus Flag referendums Russian language in Belarus Russification Neo-Sovietism Language referendums