local elections should not be recognized because they were rigged, Zmitser Dashkevich, chairman of an opposition youth group called Malady Front, told BelaPAN.

None of the 22 candidates of Novaye Pakalenne (New Generation), a coalition consisting of nine opposition youth groups including Malady Front, got elected to local soviets.

While deciding on opposition representatives' applications for candidate status, authorities were more liberal than in the 2008 parliamentary elections, Mr. Dashkevich noted.

"Although 32 representatives of the coalition were denied candidate status, we acknowledge that this happened mostly because of their own errors," he said.

However, there is no doubt that the elections themselves were rigged, with early voting continuing to be the most important instrument of election fraud, Mr. Dashkevich said.

Despite receiving twice as many votes as the pro-government contender on the main voting day, one of the Novaye Pakalenne candidates, Dzmitry Kukhley, eventually lost because he allegedly got four times fewer votes than his opponent during the April 20-24 early voting stage, Mr. Dashkevich said, describing such a discrepancy as statistically impossible.

The early voting turnout in Minsk's Bahdanovichskaya District No. 45, where Belarusian Christian Democracy's Lyubow Kameneva was a candidate, was between 95 and 97 percent, Mr. Dashkevich said. The turnout was so high because authorities forced students who live in the district's dormitories and account for most of its voters to cast their ballots early, he said.

The new local soviets consist of "self-appointed" deputies whose election cannot be recognized as legitimate, Mr. Dashkevich said.

The international community should realize that the Belarusian government views the local elections as a rehearsal for the forthcoming presidential election, he noted.

By Syarhey Pulsha
BelaPAN