Illiberalism in Belarus By Alex Cockburn

Government On paper Belarus is labeled a Republic In reality it is in fact a Dictatorship, fronted by President Aleksandr Lukashenko. Who has been in power since July of 1994 Lukashenko seized power by legal means three years after the liberation from the Soviet Union which happened in Since then he has maintained power by means of rigged elections and intimidating political opponents

Elections Presidential elections are held every four years, Belarus has multiple parties but only one can be in power. The party in power votes on a member to become president. Since Lukashenko started his term in 1994 every election has gone in his favor, receiving more then 70% of the populations votes. Many groups label the elections as frauds and rigged in Lukashenko’s favor. Belarus also has universal suffrage, over the age of 18

Constitution Belarus’s first constitution was written on March 15 of 1994 It includes laws protecting human rights (although they are not demonstrated by authorities) The population is predominantly Belarusian, but every race and gender is equal under law. The constitution was revised in November 1996, greatly expanding presidential powers, revised again in October 2004 to remove presidential term limits

Journalism Belarus was rated #5 on Freedom House’s “The Worst 10 Countries for Journalists” There are four State controlled national TV channels Television is highly censored by the government, no viewpoints that are not supporting the state are aired. Citizens as well as Journalists suspected of criticising the government are detained or intimidated as punishment. The Internet is also censored by the government,

Legal System Follows Rule of Law, to a point. Laws are constantly bent and modified to keep the people from revolting Many citizens and internationals have been detained for poor reasons such as speaking out against the President or being associated with someone that did Constantly being criticied by NGO’s and Human Rights Groups.

Judicial Branch Belarus, like any other “democracy” has a Supreme Court. All members are appointed by the President and on paper, have the power to refute his decisions. But the are impartial, the supreme court answers to the president and have never denied him before

News Article rld/europe/belarus-presidents- supporters-win-every-parliament- seat.html?ref=belarus&_r=0 Voter Turnout Was 75% All of Lukashenko’s supporters won every seat in Parliament Compared to former Soviet states with authoritarian governments that’s staged rigged elections. Two opposition parties called a boycott, nothing materialized.

Summary! Overall on paper Belarus is a democracy, thanks to President Lukashenko, it turned into a dictatorship Liberal policies are said to have been put in place but few are followed Human rights aren't followed, elections are rigged, Journalism is constrained. Overall, a Very illiberal democracy I rate this a 3/10 on the level of Liberalism

Sources ( -world-factbook/ -world-factbook/ page=363&year= page=363&year=2009