US disappointed: Department of State harshly criticised “elections” in Belarus

• 30.09.2008, 8:44

Ten US thinks the “parliamentary elections” in Belarus fell short of international standards and the government failed to uphold pledges for a transparent vote count.

The statement of the US Department of State, issued on Monday, says it.

“According to the preliminary report of the OSCE’s election monitoring mission, the conduct of the parliamentary elections in Belarus did not meet OSCE standards despite minor improvements,” the statement says.

The US Department of State notes that “he vote count in particular was judged negatively at nearly one-half of the precincts where OSCE observers were present”. Problems included election monitors being denied access to the vote count process, discrepancies between the number of voters observed and the number of votes recorded and outright falsification of votes.

Moreover, the Unites States commends those individuals and members of political parties who participated fully in the elections. “We note that a demonstration was held after the elections in a peaceful and orderly manner,” the statement says.

The US will support a dialog with the government and people of Belarus. “We encourage the authorities to take steps to uphold Belarus’ international commitments to promote democratic freedoms, including holding genuinely competitive elections, and to improving respect for internationally recognized human rights,” the Department of State emphasised.

“Such steps are necessary in order for relations between the United States and Belarus to improve significantly” the statement notes.

The Unites States is disappointed with the results of the “parliamentary election” in Belarus, Sean McCormack, the department spokesman said, reading out the statement.