2008 Belarusian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 28 September 2008.[1] All 110 seats in the House of Representatives were at stake.[2]

2008 Belarusian parliamentary election
Belarus
28 September 2008
All 110 seats in the House of Representatives
56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout76.74%
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
CPB Tatsyana Holubeva 4.36 6 -2
BAP Mikhail Rusy 0.61 1 -2
Independents – 76.59 103 +5
Speaker of the House of Representatives before Speaker of the House of Representatives after
Vadim Popov
Independent		 Vladimir Andreichenko
CPB
Politics of Belarus

Commonwealth of Independent States CIS Member State

Constitution
Presidency
President
Alexander Lukashenko
(Disputed since 23 September 2020)
Executive
Prime Minister
Roman Golovchenko
National Assembly
National Assembly
Judiciary
Administrative divisions
Elections
Presidential elections

Parliamentary elections
Foreign relations
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister: Vladimir Makei
flag Belarus portal

Lidia Yermoshina, the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission, announced on 29 August that 276 candidates were registered for the election; 365 people initially sought to run, but five withdrew and candidate registration for 84 others was rejected.[2] Just prior to the election, the number of the registered candidates was reduced to 263;[3] 82 of the candidates were members of political parties, the others were non-partisans loyal to the government. They included chief executives of local authorities and medical institutions, and top managers of large enterprises.[4] The election was attempted to be monitored by 925 international and more than 17,000 local observers,[5] including an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission consisting of some 450 members from 43 countries.[6] Belarusian citizens abroad were able to cast their votes at 40 polling stations located in 31 countries.[7] Advance voting occurred on September 23 through September 26 and was characterized by active participation: more than 26% of registered voters cast their ballots.[8] Voter turnout was reported to be 76.7%.[9]

According to the OSCE, the elections were undemocratic and the work of international observers was seriously hindered as the observers were refused access to the facilities where the votes were counted.[10] But according to a CIS election observation mission, the elections in Belarus conformed to international standards.[11]

Results

According to the official results the oppositional parties failed to gain any of the 110 available seats, all of which were given to parties and non-partisan candidates loyal to president Alexander Lukashenko. The Central Election Commission declared this to be due to the overwhelming popular fear of mass demonstrations and of the "radical political changes" demanded by the opposition. This declaration was met with immediate anti-governmental demonstrations in the centre of Minsk protesting against electoral fraud. President Lukashenko commented that the opposition in Belarus is financed by foreign countries and is not needed.[12]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Communist Party of Belarus229,9864.366–2
United Civic Party131,9312.500New
Belarusian Party of Communists127,4292.4200
BPF Party72,7701.3800
Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly)59,0101.1200
Liberal Democratic Party43,7520.830–1
Belarusian Agrarian Party32,2300.611–2
Republican Party of Labour and Justice22,7630.430New
Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly6930.0100
Independents4,035,56776.59103+5
Against all513,0089.74––
Total5,269,139100.001100
Valid votes5,269,13997.85
Invalid/blank votes115,5082.15
Total votes5,384,647100.00
Registered voters/turnout7,016,71176.74
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, CEC, CEC

References
  1. "282 contenders registered for Belarus' parliamentary elections". National Center of Legal Information of the Republic of Belarus. 2008-08-09. Archived from the original on September 29, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  2. "276 candidates for House of Representatives registered in Belarus". National Center of Legal Information of the Republic of Belarus. 2008-08-29. Archived from the original on September 29, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  3. В белорусский парламент баллотируется 263 кандидата (in Russian). REGNUM News Agency. 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
  4. "Belarusian opposition wins no seat in parliamentary poll". People's Daily. 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  5. "925 международных и более 17 000 национальных наблюдателей будут контролировать ход выборов в Белоруссии" (in Russian). REGNUM News Agency. 2008-09-27. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
  6. "OSCE election observers to present findings at press conference in Minsk on Monday". Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
  7. За пределами Белоруссии образованы 40 участков для голосования на парламентских выборах (in Russian). REGNUM News Agency. 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
  8. ЦИК Белоруссии: Более 26% избирателей проголосовали досрочно (in Russian). REGNUM News Agency. 2008-09-28. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
  9. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p260 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  10. "OSZE-Beobachter kritisieren Ablauf der Parlamentswahl". Der Spiegel (in German). 2008-09-29. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  11. "CIS observers: Belarus' elections meet international standards". National Center of Legal Information of the Republic of Belarus. 2008-09-29. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  12. "Opposition gewinnt keinen einzigen Sitz - Proteste in Weißrussland". Der Spiegel (in German). 2008-09-29. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
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