18,110 deputies were elected to the local councils of Belarus on Sunday.
77.05% of the voters in Belarus cast their votes. According to preliminary data, voter turnout reached 79.16% in Brest Oblast, 84.49% in Vitsebsk Oblast, 80.76% in Homiel Oblast, 79.81% in Hrodna Oblast, 77.97% in Minsk Oblast, 82.26% in Mahiliou Oblast, and 61.41% in the city of Minsk.
Early voting hit the record: nearly 35% of voters voted in advance, although Lidziya Yarmoshyna, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission expected turnout of 25% to 32%.
If the official election results are anything to go by, not a single representative of opposition parties was elected to regional councils and Minsk city council. The majority of the seats will be held by non-party people.
Most of the names discloses nothing, but apart from businessmen, doctors, educators there are well-known Belarusians on the list of newly-elected deputies. For example, former freestyler Alyaksei Hryshyn and news presenter Yauhen Lashkouski made it to Minsk city council which will also include 6 representatives of the Communist Party, 5 members of the Republican Party of Labour and Justice, 3 members of the Belarusian Social Sports Party, as well as one person from the Belarusian Patriotic Party and one from the Agrarian Party.
In the course of the 2018 municipal elections, the authoritiess have updated their methods: electoral merry-go-rounds have been added to fudging and manipulations. Over the past week independent observers have recorded numerous violations. At the same time, Lidziya Yarmoshyna said that the campaign was smooth, quiet and even ‘tolerant’.
In spite of ‘tolerance’, Belsat TV cameraman Andrus Kozel was severely beaten by police while observing the election process at one of Minsk polling stations. Now he is facing trial for allegedly attacking policemen.
ДР belsat.eu
