Belarus elections ‘were neither free nor fair’

International monitors have given Belarus’s parliamentary election the thumbs-down, saying it was neither free nor fair, in a judgment that increased the isolation of president Alexander Lukashenko.

After election officials listed 109 winning candidates for parliament, all from pro-establishment parties, monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said many opposition politicians had been blocked from taking part in Sunday’s poll.

“This election was not competitive from the start,” Matteo Mecacci, an OSCE co-ordinator, said. “A free election depends on people being free to speak, organise and run for office, and we didn’t see that in this campaign.”

The rubber-stamp parliament will bolster the power of the authoritarian Mr Lukashenko, who has run the ex-Soviet state since 1994. But the OSCE report is sure to increase his international isolation and lock in place poor ties with the West.

“The blatant violations in these elections make it clear to everyone that Belarus is the last dictatorship in the heart of Europe,” German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said.