Belarus: "Elections" on Sunday

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Read now the follow-up on the elections in Belarus after the vote.

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There is almost no need to say that the parliamentary elections in Belarus this Sunday, 28 September, will not be free and fair.

But there is still quite something to tell about these elections:

In an excellent and comprehensive article on Transitions Online, Rodger Potocki from the US-American National Endowment for Democracy (NED) points out that although there will be quite some cosmetic ameliorations in the electoral process, the overall situation and the direction of the country have not changed. He concludes:

During Soviet times, Belarus was known as “the Quiet Republic.” The regime is doing all it can to make this a “quiet election,” palatable to the West. But “the sounds of silence” emanating from Minsk ensure that this will not be a free and fair election. It is not business as usual in Belarus this fall, but the same old scam is still in the works.

There is not much to doubt about these final words of his article titled "Shhh! Elections in Progress". The outcome of the elections will not be surprising, and Belarus will remain on the track of being the last dictatorship on the European continent.

And almost nobody will notice... Shhh!