2010-03-12 11:30 / European Exchange, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Human Rights Centre 'Viasna'
Balance in the election commissions between independent parties and organisations, and officials who are loyal to the regime
According to the new electoral code, the number of representatives from political parties and civil organisations should be brought up to at least a third of the commission members, and the number of officials should also be reduced to a third. The remaining seats should be occupied by representatives of workers’ committees and by candidates who have collected at least ten signatures. In addition, judges, state lawyers and the chairmen of the executive committees and the supervisory authorities are forbidden from becoming members of the election committees. (More on this topic can be found in Newsletter №1 from 04.03.2010.)
Only 13 to15% of supplies are provided from Belarus’ own resources. The main type of fuel used in the country is a natural gas, which is purchased in Russia. Its share in the fuel mix is 75-80%. Belarus is not the only country in Europe which depends on Russian energy supplies. The same applies to the Baltic States, as well as a number of Central European states. However, none of these countries has such a high dependence on one country – Russia – as does Belarus.
The closing of Lithuania’s only nuclear power plant in accordance with EU requirements will render it dependent on Russian energy and perhaps vulnerable to Kremlin influence, Anna Dunin writes for ISN Security Watch.
In Belarus, elections to the local councils are being held on the 25th April. European Exchange is continuing its cooperation with the Minsk Human Rights Organisations – the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’ and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee – which began during the Belarusian parliamentary elections in 2008. This year, it is again reporting on the developments of the elections. The election monitoring campaign, ‘Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections’, which was initiated in 2008, has since received the award ‘Civil Campaign of the Year 2008’ from the Association of Pro-Democratic Nongovernmental Organisations in Belarus.
Academic freedom is not a given thing, not even in Europe in 2010. In the heart of Europe there is something that should not be necessary at all: an entire university forced into exile from its home country simply because it insisted on the principle of academic freedom and critical thinking.
