1999 Belarusian Presidential Election
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The 1999 Belarusian presidential election was a political protest action by members of
Belarusian opposition The Belarusian opposition consists of groups and individuals in Belarus seeking to challenge, from 1988 to 1991, the authorities of Soviet Belarus, and since 1995, the leader of the country Alexander Lukashenko (allied with Vladimir Putin), whom ...
who did not recognise the 1996 constitutional reform which extended
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 ...
's presidential term.


Background

The 1996 constitutional amendments created the bicameral
National Assembly of Belarus The National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus (; ) is the bicameral parliament of Belarus. The two chambers of the National Assembly are: *the Council of the Republic – the upper house *the House of Representatives – the lower house. ...
to replace the Supreme Council, which was a stronghold of opposition towards populist president Alexander Lukashenko. Another amendment extended incumbent Alexander Lukashenko's term for another two years and as a result, the next election moved from 1999 to 2001. On 10 January 1999, a meeting of 43 former deputies of the Supreme Council of Belarus was held. In accordance with 1994 Constitution, they called presidential election on 16 May 1999, as from Council's point of view Lukashenko's term was due to end in July. To organize the election, the Supreme Council appointed an alternative Central Election Commission headed by
Viktar Hanchar Viktar Hanchar, or Viktar Hančar (, , Viktor Gonchar, September 7, 1957 – disappeared September 16, 1999) was a Belarusian politician who disappeared and was presumably murdered in 1999. He was born in the village of Radzichava, Slutsk Raion. ...
.


Campaign

On 13 February 1999, the
Belarusian Popular Front The Belarusian Popular Front "Revival" (BPF, ; ''Biełaruski Narodny Front "Adradžeńnie"'', ''BNF'') was a social and political movement in Belarus in the late 1980s and 1990s whose goals were national revival of Belarus, its democratization a ...
nominated
Zianon Pazniak Zianon Stanislavavich Pazniak (born 24 April 1944) is a Belarusian nationalist politician, one of the founders of the Belarusian Popular Front and leader of the Conservative Christian Party – BPF. He was the Belarusian Popular Front nomi ...
as its presidential candidate. On 1 March 1999, former prime minister
Mikhail Chigir Mikhail Nikolayevich Chigir or Michaił Mikalajevič Čyhir (born 24 May 1948) is a Belarusian politician who served as the second List of Prime Ministers of Belarus, Prime Minister of Belarus from 21 July 1994 to 18 November 1996. Early life ...
announced his intention to run as an independent candidate. On 29 March, he stated that 132,038 signatures had been submitted to the election commission in his support. According to Popular Front deputy chairman Lyavon Barshchewski, 114,000 signatures were gathered in support of Pazniak. On 31 March, Viktar Hanchar presented certificates of presidential candidates to heads of Chigir and Pazniak campaign headquarters, as Mikhail Chigir was arrested 30 March, and Zianon Pazniak has been in political exile since 1996.


Voting

The election was held from 6 to 16 May 1999 without opening polling stations or compiling voter lists, because due to the measures taken by the authorities loyal to Lukashenko, it was not possible to organize classic polling stations. Election commission members visited voters' homes with ballot boxes. It then became clear that such election cannot meet OSCE standards, it will not be possible to invite international observers, and the candidate who receives the most votes will not be recognized internationally as the new president. On 7 May 1999, one of the opposition leaders, the former minister of internal affairs
Yury Zacharanka Colonel Yury Mikalevich Zakharanka (; ; 4 January 1952 – disappeared 7 May 1999) was a Belarusian military officer, politician, and pro-democracy activist who served as Minister of Internal Affairs from 1994 to 1995. Following his departure ...
, went missing. According to Hanchar's election commission, out of 7.5 million Belarusians eligible to vote, over one million people voted in the first three days. After the voting started, Zianon Pazniak withdrew his candidacy due to "numerous violations by Hanchar during the campaign". Pazniak's decision provoked criticism from some of his party members and subsequently split the Belarusian Popular Front.


Aftermath

At a press conference on 19 May 1999, Hanchar declared election invalid due to "violations committed during the voting". None of the candidates received more than 50% of the vote, with Pazniak closest to win. The exact data on votes cast for each candidate was not announced. 53% of Belarusians allegedly took part in the voting, although due to mass arrests of activists by Lukashenko-controlled police and withdrawal of People's Front representatives from local election commissions, voting process was paralysed. During the campaign, Hanchar's commission was subject to serious criticism. Reports on turnout were questioned both by the regime and the opposition. On 21 August 1999, deputies of the Supreme Council appointed its last chairman
Syamyon Sharetski Syamyon Georgiyevich Sharetski (, ; born 23 September 1936) is a Belarusian former agricultural scientist and politician. He was the last acting Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus. Early life and career Sharetski was born in 1936 and ...
acting president of Belarus.


Reaction

* When speaking in 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 ...
in October 1999, president Alexander Lukashenko commented on the election and subsequent disappearance of Viktar Hanchar: "Some Western structures have launched a noisy campaign: they say, people are disappearing in Belarus without a trace. But for some reason they only talk about three, or two. Note that these were two who have practically gone bankrupt in politics. Today in Minsk no one talks about the fact that they are missing. We showed how much money they stole for the so-called "election after the expiration of president Lukashenko's term" this spring, when they tried to organize election and as many as 15,000 out of 11 million came to vote, taking into account falsified votes. Yet it was 4 million votes announced."
Yabloko The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko (RUDP Yabloko; rus, Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко», Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko" ...
parliamentary group did not attend the meeting, considering Lukashenko to be "illegitimate president since 20 July 1999." * Adrian Severin, head of the
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE (OSCE PA) is an institution of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental o ...
working group on Belarus: "It was not expected that the election of 16 May 1999 would meet OSCE standards. Nevertheless, it constitutes an important step towards the necessary political dialogue between the government and the opposition."


See also

* Enforced disappearances in Belarus * 2001 Belarusian presidential election


References


Sources

* {{Belarusian elections 1999 elections in Belarus Annulled elections