Belarus in 2004

Belarus in 2004

Area: 207,595 sq km (80,153 sq mi)
Population Minsk
Head of state and government: President Alyaksandr H. Lukashenka, assisted by Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorski

The year 2004 in Belarus was dominated by a controversial referendum on whether to amend the constitution to allow Pres. Alyaksandr Lukashenka to run for a third term in office; presidential elections were scheduled for 2006. On September 7 the president announced that on Oct. 17, 2004, the day of the parliamentary election, a referendum would be held on the following question: “Do you allow the first President of the Republic of Belarus, Alyaksandr Hryhorevich Lukashenka, to participate in the presidential election as a candidate for the post of the President of the Republic of Belarus and do you accept Part 1 of Article 81 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus in the wording that follows: ‘The President shall be elected directly by the people of the Republic of Belarus for a term of five years by universal, free, equal, direct and secret ballot?’”

After a campaign dominated by the state-backed media and harassment of opposition figures, most of whom had been debarred from participation in the parliamentary election at the registration stage, a reported 90.2% of the population took part in voting; 79.4% reportedly voted “yes” to the referendum questions. The opposition, which had argued that Lukashenka could now remain in power indefinitely, held several days of street protests after the election and cited a Gallup Poll taken at election time that indicated that only 48.4% of respondents had intended to support the motion (50% of the entire electorate had to approve the motion for it to pass). The new parliament of 110 deputies was likely to be equally compliant. No opposition figure won a seat, and only the Liberal Democrats and Communists were represented.

The year was marked generally by repressive actions on the part of the authorities. In April, Mikhail Marynich, a former minister of foreign economic relations, was arrested for illegal storage of firearms, and criminal charges were brought against him in August. Marynich, a founder of the European Choice faction and a leading opposition member, was additionally charged with stealing computers from the Business Initiative group, though these computers were supposedly a gift from the U.S. embassy in Minsk. On July 28 the authorities closed the European Humanities University, the only university in Belarus outside state control. The action was the culmination of a lengthy campaign to remove the rector, Anatol Mikhailau, a renowned scholar.

From the government’s perspective, a key event of the year was the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Minsk from Nazi German occupation, which was marked by a military parade on July 3.

Economically, Belarus continued to enjoy high growth rates as a result of its close links to Russia. GDP grew by 11.1% in the first 11 months of the year, and industrial production rose by 15.7%—overfulfilling the respective target figures of 9% and 9–10%. The best performers were ferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering and metalworking, pulp and paper, and fuel industries.

David R. Marples