Kazakevich: “It sounds like exceptional mockery”

Doctor of Political Science on the authorities’ proposal for those who have left and want to vote.

On the eve of the referendum on amendments and additions to the Constitution, the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that polling stations would not operate abroad.

According to the ministry’s spokesperson Anatoly Glaz, the decision to open polling stations is made by the heads of consulates themselves, guided by a number of factors, from the number of citizens registered with the consulate to the epidemiological situation.

This short explanation already contains a contradiction: if the number of Belarusians abroad who have the right to vote is in fact as insignificant as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims, then why would it be a problem to organize voting while observing all epidemiological requirements?

However, the official also named other reasons for refusing to open polling stations outside Belarus: a shortage of staff at diplomatic missions and numerous threats that diplomats had allegedly received.

In any case, Belarus has never had such a practice before.

How adequate is the authorities’ decision?
— In Belarus, at least over the past two decades, people had the opportunity to vote, although, to be fair, it should be noted that before 2020 there was not much interest in voting in general either, said Andrei Kazakevich, director of the Political Sphere Institute, in a brief comment to Solidarity.

Having examined the Belarusian authorities’ reasoning, the Doctor of Political Science notes that this decision is least of all connected with anti-epidemiological measures, especially since these measures differ from country to country, while in Belarus there are currently no restrictions as such.
— I think there is a problem related to understaffing at embassies in some countries, where there may not be enough personnel to work on an electoral commission.

But the main considerations, in my view, are exclusively political.

First, to exclude from the electoral process people who are abroad and who, as the practice of 2020 and previous electoral campaigns shows, generally do not support the authorities.

Now this would be even more pronounced because a very large number of Belarusians, no fewer than 100,000 people, have left as a result of recent events.

And second, the very process of voting abroad could become an opportunity for various kinds of demonstrations, pickets, exit polls, and other political actions that would draw attention to the fact that the referendum is taking place in an undemocratic atmosphere.

In addition, these actions would make it possible to further mobilize the diaspora in different countries and to demonstrate on a mass scale a civic position that does not coincide with the “official course,” which is also disadvantageous for the authorities.

I think this decision, not to open polling stations for voting abroad, was made on the basis of this set of factors.
— At the same time, through Glaz, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the constitutional rights to take part in the referendum had not been violated.

They say: if you want to vote, come to your place of registration or last residence in Belarus.

Discussions immediately began as to whether this was said with the aim of detaining those who might risk coming and opening another set of criminal cases.

Or, on the contrary, to make sure that no one comes and spoils the “picture.”
— Of course, this sounds like exceptional mockery.

The question is not even whether people will be detained, but that the proposal to travel, for example, from Europe to Belarus under current conditions is very complicated and expensive, the expert says. Flying to Minsk via Moscow or Istanbul just to put a ballot into a box that most likely will not even be counted is not a particularly attractive prospect.

By the same logic, one could announce that polling stations in Belarus will be organized only in Minsk or only in Mahiliou, and anyone who wants to can come and vote.

It is clear that this is a conscious restriction of electoral rights.

In theory, the possibility of taking part in the referendum exists, but in practice hundreds of thousands of Belarusian citizens who are abroad will simply be deprived of the opportunity to vote.https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?src=sp&u=https%3A%2F%2Fgazetaby.com%2Fpost%2Fkazakevich-zvuchit-kak-isklyuchitelnoe-izdevatelst%2F183080%2Fhttps://t.me/share/url?url=https://gazetaby.com/post/kazakevich-zvuchit-kak-isklyuchitelnoe-izdevatelst/183080/&text=%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%96%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%86%D1%8C.%20%D0%93%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5%20%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%20%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D0%B8.%20%D0%A7%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82%D0%B5%20%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%88%D0%B5%20%D0%B8%20%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%20%D0%B8%20%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%20%D0%B2%20%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%20@gazetabyhttps://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgazetaby.com%2Fpost%2Fkazakevich-zvuchit-kak-isklyuchitelnoe-izdevatelst%2F183080%2F&text=%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%3A%20%C2%AB%D0%97%D0%B2%D1%83%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%82%20%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BA%20%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B5%20%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE%C2%BB%20-%20%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BBi%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%86%D1%8Chttps://vk.com/share.php?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgazetaby.com%2Fpost%2Fkazakevich-zvuchit-kak-isklyuchitelnoe-izdevatelst%2F183080%2F&title=%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%3A%20%C2%AB%D0%97%D0%B2%D1%83%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%82%20%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BA%20%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B5%20%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE%C2%BB%20-%20%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BBi%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%86%D1%8Chttps://connect.ok.ru/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgazetaby.com%2Fpost%2Fkazakevich-zvuchit-kak-isklyuchitelnoe-izdevatelst%2F183080%2F&title=%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%3A%20%C2%AB%D0%97%D0%B2%D1%83%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%82%20%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BA%20%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B5%20%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE%C2%BB%20-%20%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BBi%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%86%D1%8C
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