{"id":51252,"date":"2023-11-24T15:42:47","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T12:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=longreads&p=51252"},"modified":"2023-11-24T20:36:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T17:36:53","slug":"fear-and-insecurity-minsk-to-hide-names-of-election-officials","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/51252\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear and insecurity: Minsk to hide names of election officials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Minsk will hide the identities of members of election commissions that will be formed for the February 25 parliamentary and local elections. The measure, introduced in the aftermath of the 2020 protests, exposes the regime\u2019s lack of confidence.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protests have been crushed long ago, thousands of opponents are in jail, and many more have been forced to emigrate. Many in the country are dissatisfied with the system, but keep a low profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, Ihar Karpienka, the top election officer, insists on the need to protect election officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karpienka cites bullying as a reason<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“We used to print a list of all these citizens with their personal data and so on and so forth. We wanted to follow the example of democratic countries and show that we have an open system. As a result, we got bullying and harassment of these people,” Karpienka told STV<\/em>, referring to the 2020 presidential race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement is remarkable from several points of view. First of all, he indirectly admits that Belarus is not a democracy and does not want to be. As for the composition of election commissions, he said, “This information is absolutely irrelevant for the average voter.\u201d So, he believes he has a right to determine what citizens need to know and what they do not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is interesting to examine what Karpienka sees as bullying and harassment. Most election commissions were staffed by teachers during the 2020 presidential election. In the run-up, some teachers received appeals from former students who asked them to count the votes honestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the evening of August 9, the election day, voters gathered outside polling stations as they waited for election commissions to post protocols with voting results as required by regulations. They did not break doors or attack election officials, but police resorted to violence to disperse them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government to pick about 70,000 loyalists<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Despite the appeals, few election commissions dared to report real numbers, but their results were devastating for incumbent Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The online platform Holas used photos of ballots and protocols for a parallel vote count. Although data from all polling stations was not available, its analysts concluded that opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja should have won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the lead up to the race, the local executive authorities carefully selected election commissioners to pick only those who supported the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was no bullying, of course, but some election officials were genuinely carried away by hope for change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local executive authorities are now determined to select commission members even more rigorously. Opponents say the elections will be a circus, but even circus tricks have to be mastered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials do have a lot of scrupulous work ahead. They have to pick and vet both potential candidates and about 70,000 election officials to ensure a smooth campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk wary of Western secret services<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that dissent in the country has been suppressed, no political turmoil is expected. Obviously, \u0141uka\u0161enka is looking forward to the 2025 presidential race, while the February 25 vote will be a test run for election commissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The central election commission\u2019s decision to keep officials\u2019 names secret has not come as a surprise. The government already did it during the 2022 constitutional referendum, citing security concerns. At the time, it was an overt violation of law. It was only after the plebiscite that officials rewrote the Electoral Code to make provision for withholding officials\u2019 names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karpienka defended the move, claiming that the lists of commissioners “suddenly became the object of study . . . of various secret services, including those of neighboring unfriendly states.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One would think that a Polish or Lithuanian secret service would only dream of identifying a teacher, who has been a member of the election commission at the same school for thirty years, to have her disrupt the local election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What should we be afraid of?”<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The secrecy is indicative of officials\u2019 fears and insecurities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even loyalists in charge of doctoring numbers in election commissions might feel uneasy about their involvement in the criminal affair. That is why they are afraid of publicity. Of course, they are protected now, but life is long and who knows what will happen and who will be in power in ten years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government protects these people from excessive exposure and psychological discomfort to make sure they will not turn down the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top officials, including \u0141uka\u0161enka, are still suffering from the psychological trauma caused by the 2020 protests. They fear conspiracies by sleeping agents, exiled opponents and hostile secret services. Their worst nightmare would be to see Poland send tank battalions to a small town in western Belarus to force local authorities at gunpoint to form a progressive and democratic local council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials are probably aware that support for the regime is not as strong as \u0141uka\u0161enka claimed at the June meeting with Karpienka. “Today about 80 percent clearly support the course we have set. Why should we be afraid? Well, we will continue to fight for the 20 percent who are hesitant or are against it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, they are afraid. That is why they have decided to make officials anonymous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How strong is foundation of the system?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not all election officials are fans of the regime. Adaptability and conformism in Belarus is a topic that requires a special study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During perestroika, election commissions consisted of ordinary Soviet people, not dissidents. For many years, elections were a mere formality without competition, but when the political turmoil began and the ruling Communist Party weakened, the commissions started to count the votes correctly. In 1990, many people with democratic views were elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, too, some commissions counted the votes correctly, so a lot depends on public mood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka, who considers Mikhail Gorbachev a sissy, will not allow any democracy as long as he has the power to hold the steering wheel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2020 uprising also came unexpectedly. In the spring of 2020, the old opposition failed to hold primaries and called for a boycott. COVID-19 seemed to have divided people, and many analysts predicted a boring race and an easy victory for the incumbent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some say now that it would have been better without the election turmoil because it provoked a brutal crackdown and a backslide toward totalitarianism. However, history does not have a subjunctive mood. The secrecy proves that officials and law enforcers are anxious and not so sure that 80 percent of voters \u201cclearly support the course.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minsk will hide the identities of members of election commissions that will be formed for the February 25 parliamentary and local elections. The measure, introduced in the aftermath of the 2020 protests, exposes the regime\u2019s lack of confidence. The protests have been crushed long ago, thousands of opponents are in jail, and many more have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":50859,"template":"","rubric":[14,22],"class_list":["post-51252","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFear and insecurity: Minsk to hide names of election officials | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Minsk will hide the identities of members of election commissions that will be formed for the February 25 parliamentary and local elections. 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