Observers Wary Of Belarus Vote

Western observers said Monday that Belarus' presidential election did not meet international standards for a free and fair vote because of widespread detentions and intimidation.

Official results showed iron-fisted incumbent Alexander Lukashenko winning a third term by an overwhelming margin. Sunday's elections were overseen by monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe.

"The March 19 presidential election did not meet the required international standards for free and fair elections," said Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., who chairs the OSCE parliamentary assembly.

The mission said "arbitrary use of state power and widespread detentions showed a disregard for the basic rights of freedom of assembly, association and expression, and raise doubts regarding the authorities' willingness to tolerate political competition."

Central Election Commission chief Lidiya Yermoshina said Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994, won a "commanding victory" with 82.6 percent of the vote, according to a complete preliminary ballot count. Main opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich received 6 percent, she said.

The longtime leader controls the election commission, the media and virtually every other institution in the former Soviet republic, says CBS News reporter Bill Gasperini.

The European Union said the elections were marred by intimidation, and the 25-nation bloc likely will impose sanctions on Belarus' top political leaders.

Milinkevich called the official vote tally for Lukashenko "monstrously inflated" and denounced him as an "illegal, illegitimate president." He called for a large crowd to turn out for an evening protest on a central Minsk square.

"In Belarus, we did not have an election but an unconstitutional seizure of power," Milinkevich said. He repeated his demand for a repeat vote "in which the law of the country is followed."

Lukashenko, meanwhile, poured scorn on the opposition and said voters had shown the world "who's the boss" in Belarus. "The revolution that was talked about so much ... has failed," he told a nationally televised news conference.

"You have seen our opposition, and if you are reasonable people you have been convinced that it's worthless," Lukashenko said. He repeated his allegations that the opposition is backed by Western forces plotting to bring him down.

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said the opposition "was systematically intimidated" during the campaign.

"Preparations (for the vote) were conducted in a climate of intimidation, a climate of hindering" Lukashenko opponents, she said.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said "some action is now very likely," including a visa travel ban on top government leaders in Minsk. She said other measures being considered by EU foreign ministers include expanding a freeze on the assets of top officials.

In characteristically boastful, broad-ranging comments in which he praised Russia and accused the West of murdering former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Lukashenko said he was "not afraid of further isolation," adding: "How can there be more?"

Several thousand people massed in Oktyabrskaya Square after the polls closed Sunday night, heeding Milinkevich's calls for a peaceful protest and defying a government ban on election day rallies that had raised fears of a potentially violent confrontation.

Milinkevich and the other opposition candidate, Alexander Kozulin, called on supporters to return to the square Monday evening — signaling a bid to hold a sustained protest like those that brought opposition leaders to power in other ex-Soviet republics, including neighboring Ukraine.

There are fears the authorities may try to break up Monday's demonstration, reports Gasperini.

The authorities made no move to disperse protesters Sunday, but busloads of riot police idling on a nearby street were a reminder of the government's threats of a decisive response.

The crowd was the biggest the opposition had mustered in years, reaching at least 10,000, according to AP reporters' estimates. After about three hours, a smaller group marched to nearby Victory Square, some laying carnations at a monument there before dispersing around midnight.

"Tomorrow we will show the world our might!" said Kozulin.