{"id":11490,"date":"2022-11-01T11:05:12","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T08:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/lukasenka-looking-to-abolish-elections-war-can-foil-his-plan\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"lukasenka-looking-to-abolish-elections-war-can-foil-his-plan","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11490\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0141uka\u0161enka looking to abolish elections, war can foil his plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\t<span>By Via\u010desla\u016d Korascie\u0144,&nbsp;BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t * Reproduction prohibited\n<\/p>\n<p>\n <span>The Belarusian government on October 24 published changes to the Electoral Code and a bill outlining the All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly\u2019s powers and procedures. Both bills are open for public discussion until November 2. The legislation is designed to restrict Belarusians\u2019 right to elect officials.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<h2>\nAssembly delegates to be selected, no elections abroad <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t The All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly has broad powers, including the power to impeach presidents and invalidate elections, but voters will not be involved directly in selecting its delegates.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Changes to the Electoral Code would fix the last Sunday of February as the date for parliamentary and local elections. The elections would be held in the last year of five-year parliamentary and local terms. Under the new Constitution, elections for the House of Representatives and local soviets (councils) are scheduled for February 25, 2024.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The bill proposes removing the 50-percent turnout threshold for parliamentary elections. It would raise the lower age limit for presidential candidates to 40 years and prohibit those who have not lived permanently in Belarus for the last 20 years from running for president.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The government also proposes that embassies should not be required to open polling stations abroad for elections. It did not set up any polling stations abroad for the 2022 constitutional referendum.\n<\/p>\n<h2>\nAuthorities trying to mitigate election-related risks <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka seeks to restrict voters\u2019 right to elect officials because he sees any election as a source of political instability. He suffered a psychological trauma in the summer and fall of 2020 during mass protests that followed his disputed re-election marred by allegations of massive fraud.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201cWhy create conditions that put additional strain on the system? Elections are a risk even during the current terror campaign in the country. Officials seek to simplify and close off election processes,\u201d said Pave\u0142 Usa\u016d, head of the Warsaw-based Center for Political Analysis and Prognosis.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t He added that Belarusians already have rights and freedoms on paper only. \u201c\u0141uka\u0161enka has moved to take down these facade elements,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Juryj Drakachrust, of RFE\/RL Belarus Service, drew parallels between the imminent electoral reform in Belarus and changes introduced in Italy in the 1930s.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Benito Mussolini initially restricted elections to ensure his National Fascist Party\u2019s landslide victory. In 1939 he replaced the Chamber of Deputies with the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations, whose members were not elected but nominated by party organs.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t That chamber was very similar to the All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly. And \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s mentality is very similar too, Drakachrust said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201cWhy make people nervous and create risks? Risks do exist, 2020 proved it. That is why it would be better to abolish elections as an institution,\u201d he told The Viewer.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201c\u0141uka\u0161enka could officially abolish elections in principle,\u201d Usa\u016d said, noting that the Belarusian ruler will never restore his legitimacy in the eyes of many voters.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Belarusian leader had suggested earlier this year that presidents could be elected by the All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly. He would change his mind later.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201cThe remark shows that he is tired of elections and would like to simplify the extension of his tenure as much as possible. It may happen before 2025,\u201d Usa\u016d said.\n<\/p>\n<h2>\n\u0141uka\u0161enka may take charge of assembly in 2024 <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Still, the Belarusian leader decided against delegating the power to elect presidents to the All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly. \u201cThe people will elect the president,\u201d he said on October 21, but praised the Chinese system of elections by the National People\u2019s Congress.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u0141uka\u0161enka plans to take charge of the All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly in 2024, Drakachrust predicted.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The new legislation, if adopted, would allow him to chair the assembly without resigning. \u201cHe will take charge of the All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly before his presidential term runs out, and will think in 2025 whether he should stay on,\u201d the analyst said.\n<\/p>\n<h2>\nWhat can unsettle entrenched regime <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Although the system seems impregnable, public winds may change drastically against the authoritarian ruler, and new bodies may be forced to comply with public wishes, Drakachrust said, recalling the perestroika time in the Soviet Union.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Another precedent was Czechoslovakia during the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when communist party stalwarts voted to dismount the communist system, he said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Usa\u016d noted that the \u0141uka\u0161enka regime may abolish elections if the Belarusian Armed Forces are drawn into the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. \u201cIf Russia suffers defeat, Belarus might return to 1994 format. \u0141uka\u0161enka would not be able to keep as much power as he has now,\u201d he noted.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Clearly, only a major crisis can unsettle the regime, Drakachrust said. \u201cIn our situation this is war or Russia\u2019s defeat in the war.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t &nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t &nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Via\u010desla\u016d Korascie\u0144,&nbsp;BPN * Reproduction prohibited The Belarusian government on October 24 published changes to the Electoral Code and a bill outlining the All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly\u2019s powers and procedures. Both bills are open for public discussion until November 2. The legislation is designed to restrict Belarusians\u2019 right to elect officials. Assembly delegates to be selected, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11490","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u0141uka\u0161enka looking to abolish elections, war can foil his plan | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Via\u010desla\u016d Korascie\u0144,&nbsp;BPN * Reproduction prohibited The Belarusian government on October 24 published changes to the Electoral Code and a bill\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11490\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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