Opposition parties in Belarus said Sunday
they will boycott next week's parliamentary elections despite assurances from
President Alexander Lukashenko they will be democratic, dpa reported.
The United Democratic Forces alliance justified the move by saying the
government had refused to allow the opposition to sit on regional election
commissions, thus depriving them of the chance to monitor the vote.
Lukashenko, criticized by human rights groups in his homeland as "Europe's
last dictator," said Belarus had strictly adhered to the guidelines laid
down by the West in preparing the elections.
On Saturday, the president, who has been in power since 1994, threatened to
place relations with the West on ice if it declares the September 28 polls
undemocratic.
If there is no recognition of the elections "we will stop talking to
them," the president told the news agency Interfax.
The Belarus opposition has complained of the president's authoritarian style of
leadership and lack of press freedom and free speech in the former Soviet
republic.
Opposition protest rallies were frequently banned or broken up with force by
the police.
Alliance spokesman Winzuk Vetsherko said opposition parties were at a
disadvantage in the upcoming polls because candidates "are not elected but
named" to sit in parliament.
The opposition planned to field 78 candidates to contest the 100 seats at stake
in the legislature, but left a decision on whether to boycott the polls up to
the contenders themselves.
Lukaschenko denounced the opposition as "unemployed rowdies," who had
no chance of being elected. He said campaigning for the election had proceeded
smoothly, a sign of "the healthy state of society" in the country.
Hundreds of foreign observers will be monitoring the polls. Experts from the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will give their
verdict on whether they are free and fair.
On Monday, the European Union said it would reward Belarus with stronger
official, economic and cultural relations if the elections are sufficiently
fair.