Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 17 November 2019.Lukashenka Calls Belarus's Next Presidential Election For 2020 RFE/RL, 19 April 2019
Background Parliamentary elections were required to be held no later than 6 September 2020. However, in his annual address to the nation on 19 April 2019, President Alexander Lukashenko announced that they would be held in 2019. Lukashenko suggested Sunday 7 November or October Revolution Day as possible dates,Александр Лукашенко назначил досрочные выборы в парламент Белоруссии Meduza, 19 April 2019 however the election was ultimately scheduled for 17 November 2019.
Electoral system The 110 members of the House of Representatives were elected from single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting.Belarus IDEA
Participating parties Party Leader Ideology Stance toward President Lukashenko Number of participating constituencies 2016 result Votes (%) SeatsCommunist Party of Belarus (CPB)Aliaksiej SokalCommunismMarxism–LeninismPro-government547.4%Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus (LDPB)Oleg GaidukevichRussian-Belarusian unionismRight-wing populismPro-government (de facto)1074.2%Republican Party of Labour and Justice (RPTS)Democratic socialismSocial democracyPro-government432.9%United Civic Party (UCP)Mikalaj KazloŭLiberal conservatismSocial liberalismOpposition562.2%Belarusian Patriotic Party (BPP)SocialismSocial conservatismPro-government162.2%BPF Party (BPF)Ryhor KastusioŭBelarusian nationalismChristian democracyOpposition381.7%Belarusian Left Party "A Just World"Sergey KalyakinDemocratic socialismCommunismOpposition331.4%Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly) (BSDP)Social democracyLiberal democracyOpposition431.3%Belarusian Party "The Greens" (BPZ)Nastassya DarafeyevaGreen politicsEco-socialismOpposition70.2%Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly (BSDH)Siarhei CherachenSocial democracyNational democracyOpposition20colspan="2" rowspan="4" Republican Party (RP)Uladzimir BelazorEurasianismEconomic nationalismPro-government6Belarusian Agrarian Party (AP)Agrarian socialismDemocratic socialismPro-Government1Belarusian Social Sporting Party (BSSP)Vladimir AlexandrovichSocial democracySports politicsPro-government1
Opinion polls Date Polling firm KPB LDPB RPTS UCP BPP BPF A Just World BSDP The Greens BSSP BSDH BAP KCP-BPF SDPNS RP Independents/None Lead July–August 2017 Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences 2.6 1.9 2.6 2.2 1.5 0.7 1.5 1.6 2.3 1.7 1.6 1.1 1.1 0.9 0.7 76.0 Tie 11 September 2016 2016 Parliamentary elections 7.4 4.2 2.9 2.2 2.2 1.7 1.4 1.3 0.2 67.0+9.62.0
Campaign Most opposition parties decided to contest the election but not all candidates were registered. The Conservative Christian Party and the Belarusian Social-Democratic Assembly decided to boycott the elections.
Conduct On 13 November, during preliminary voting, an observer in Brest published a video showing alleged ballot stuffing. Lidia Yermoshina, chief of the Central Election Commission of Belarus, denied fraud had taken place and stated that the observer's accreditation should be withdrawn as they were not allowed to film in a room with ballot boxes.Ермошина о «вбросе» бюллетеней в Бресте: Наблюдателя надо лишить аккредитации On 15 November, the observer's accreditation was withdrawn by the local electoral commission. Another objection by the same observer concerning the number of preliminary votes was accepted.«У мяне таксама абвастрылася хвароба». Назіральніка, які зняў на відэа спробу ўкіду бюлетэняў, наведалі назіральнікі АБСЕ
Students from some universities claimed that they had been forced to participate in preliminary voting, or encouraged to do so by being allowed absences from classes on Saturday and Monday. The universities denied the claims. On 15 November Belarusian State Economic University students openly protested near the campus for similar reasons, citing the recently published video with one of their instructors (curators) demanding people participate in the preliminary voting.Белорусские студенты протестуют: их принуждают досрочно голосовать на выборах в парламент
Election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that “fundamental freedoms were disregarded and the integrity of the election process was not adequately safeguarded". A statement from the OSCE team cited concerns including what they described as the exclusion of many opposition candidates, limited opportunity for public campaigning and shortcomings during vote counting. OSCE observer Margaret Cederfeldt said the election had demonstrated "an overall lack of respect for democratic commitments".
Election observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States described the elections as "competitive, open, free [and] transparent", adding that they considered them to be held in line with the country's Constitution and Electoral Code.
Results Only 21 of the 110 elected deputies were members of political parties, with all belonging to pro-government parties; the Communist Party of Belarus emerged as the largest party in the House of Representatives with 11 MPs, the Republican Party of Labour and Justice came second with six seats, the Belarusian Patriotic Party won two and the Agrarian Party and Liberal Democratic Party won a seat each.
Unlike in the previous elections in 2016, in which two opposition candidates were elected, the opposition did not win a single seat; the opposition United Civic Party lost its sole seat and the only pro-opposition independent MP failed to be re-elected. All 110 elected representatives were described as "loyal" to President Alexander Lukashenko. For all but one term since 2004, there have been no opposition MPs in the House of Representatives. However, since a 1996 referendum effectively concentrated all governing power in Lukashenko's hands, the House has been dominated by Lukashenko supporters even when opposition MPs have managed to get into the chamber, and the House has done little more than approve Lukashenko's policies.
44 of the 110 elected MPs were women, two were under the age of 30 and thirty were members of the previous parliament.
By oblast PartyMinskBrestVitebskGomelGrodnoMinsk OblastMogilevCommunist Party of Belarus106,66934,21040,418161,39222,743111,41482,691Liberal Democratic Party83,04218,78523,06348,23949,81441,70116,039Republican Party of Labour and Justice75,525104,28113,917103,5724,03642,61412,026United Civic Party15,1703,8695,27515,59614,2295,57912,474Belarusian Patriotic Party29,13641,2560003,4301,461BPF Party8,4736,5739,2405,8599,5062,55240,200Belarusian Left Party "A Just World"9,3989,2023,6106,8625,3992,886504Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly)23,03134,6773,7232,2187,9015,9897,251Belarusian Green Party3,5000002,5684,5240Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly14,561909001,1056,336253Republican Party2,71902,146002,6640Belarusian Agrarian Party0000046,7850Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party7,905000000Against all77,56673,70251,23964,38156,92877,46845,827Invalid/blank votes6,1829,4827,9337,8706,72510,2867,429Total814,206778,292703,631879,624594,940884,916663,959
International reaction
In its report following the elections, the OSCE stated that the legal framework in Belarus "does not adequately guarantee the conduct of elections in line with OSCE commitments and other international standards and obligations". As to the voting, the OSCE stated that " the lack of safeguards in election day and early voting procedures negatively impacted the integrity of the process." It also highlighted that "over 1,000 complaints and applications were filed with the election commissions, local authorities and courts, mostly related to appointment of commission members and candidate registration and deregistration".Belarus, Early Parliamentary Elections, 17 November 2019: Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions - Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, 18 November 2019]
The US State Department made a statement, referring to the decision by the OSCE: "The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, and the Council of Europe's conclusions and observations about these elections are deeply troubling. We regret that alternative voices will not be represented in parliament."Belarus Parliamentary Elections - Press Statement, Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State, November 20, 2019]
The European Union noted that the election "took place in an overall calm atmosphere" but stated that "there was an overall disregard for fundamental freedoms of assembly, association and expression".Statement by the Spokesperson on the parliamentary elections in Belarus, 18 November 2019
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