Jerzy Buzek: Democracy is not a staged play

The election in Belarus looks like a farce of democracy, the President of the European Parliament thinks.

EP head Jerzy Buzek thinks the presidential election in Belarus scheduled for December 19, 2010, “will be a crucial election which will determine the future direction of EU-Belarus relations,” Radio Svaboda reports.

Buzek made a statement in Strasbourg welcoming the fact that Belarus invited OSCE/ODIHR observers to monitor the election. He reminded: “The OSCE/ODIHR recommendations must indeed be followed to the letter for this election to be considered as fair and democratic.”

“The Belarusian authorities need to guarantee a level playing field for all candidates. That includes measures concerning the conditions for the registration of candidates, the representation of the opposition at all levels of electoral committees, the integrity of the early voting and the transparency of the vote count,” Jerzy Buzek said.

The EP President expressed his concern about the state of freedom of press in Belarus and urged to ensure equal access to the media for all candidates and end the intimidation and harassment of independent journalists.

“Regrettably the last elections in Belarus have amounted to little more than a farce of democracy. This is not how democratic processes work: democracy is not a staged play with a director and actors following a script,” the EP President said.

“I encourage the democratic forces of the country to unite their efforts to create a credible choice for the Belarusian voters,” the EP head added.