President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been linked to the persecution of non- Orthodox Christians, Jews and political opponents.
The elections have been overshadowed by international concern over vote rigging and a crack on independent media. Most opposition figures were either put in jail, forced into exile, or disappeared, human rights groups say.
Graffiti to paint anti government slogans was about the only way for the underground opposition to share its message with the masses ahead of Sunday’s ballot in Belarus.
Opposition politicians, who hold just four of the 110 parliamentary seats, say Sunday’s ballot was unfair and marked by fraud.
Although Lukashenko invited foreign observers to monitor the voting, the United States and Europe already expressed "serious doubts" about the way elections were conducted. Besides choosing a new parliament, voters were also asked in a referendum to support a change in the constitution to allow Lukashenko to seek a third presidential term.
NO SURPRISE
Currently, presidents are limited to just two five-year terms in the former Soviet republic. Yaroslav Romanchuk of the independent Strategy Analytical Center in the Belarusian capital, Minsk told the Voice of America (VOA) network that he was not surprised about Lukashenko’s apparent effort to stay in power.
"He doesn’t want to be part of Europe, because he doesn’t belong there, if we talk about values, about the fundamental principles of statehood," said Romanchuk. "His ultimate goal is to rebuild the Soviet Union in as vast a territory of the ex-Soviet Union as possible."
SOVIET POWER STRUCTURE
Concern over a possible new Soviet power structure, was also reflected in the U.S. Department of State’s sixth Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, examining the "status of religious freedom around the world." The report concludes that "conditions of religious freedom continued to be poor" in the former Soviet republic.
"Following a 2002 law strongly restricting religious freedom and a 2003 agreement between the Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC) and the Government elevating the BOC’s status, authorities continued to harass other religions and denominations," it said.
"The new religion law requires all previously registered groups to reregister by November 2004 and banned immediately all religious activity by previously unregistered religious groups."
"The Government has repeatedly rejected the registration applications of some of these groups, including a number of Protestant denominations, the Belarusian Orthodox Autocephalous and some Eastern religions."
NO REGISTRATION
Without registration, many of these groups find it difficult, if not impossible, to rent or purchase property to hold services. In addition "the National Academy of Science continued to sell anti-Semitic literature" , the U.S. State Department added.
The opposition has accused Lukashenko of seeking a term for life in his increasingly isolated country, in apparent cooperation with hard-line Orthodox Church leaders.
Analysts say Belarus’ neighbor Russia has been quit on the human rights issues, as many Russian business men are believed to have key interests in the troubled republic. Although official results were expected later, Western observers had no doubt that Lukashenko and his supporters would use fraud, if necessary, to claim an election victory.
