Belarus election result disputed

Opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich, left, and his wife Inna Kuley place flowers at the monument of the Unknown Soldier after a massive rally in central Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday. Thousands of opposition supporters gathered in Minsk as polls closed in a disputed presidential election on Sunday, shouting ``Long Live Belarus!'' and chanting the name Alexander Milinkevich. PHOTO: AP

Opponents of newly elected President Alexander Lukashenko faced a crucial test of strength yesterday, planning a second protest against a vote the government said had handed the authoritarian incumbent a new five-year term by a massive margin.

Lukashenko, who has ruled with an iron hand since 1994, won a "commanding victory" with 82.6 percent, according to a complete preliminary ballot count, Central Election Commission chief Lidiya Yermoshina said. Main opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich received 6 percent, she said.

Addressing a crowd of thou-sands waving flags and shouting for freedom in a central Minsk square after polls closed on Sunday, Milinkevich dismissed the vote as a farce and called for "new, honest elections" in the former Soviet republic.

Several thousand people massed in Oktyabrskaya Square, heeding Milinkevich's calls for a peaceful protest and defying a government ban on election day rallies that had raised fears of a potentially violent confrontation.

Milinkevich and the other opposition candidate, Alexander Kozulin, called on supporters to return to the square yesterday evening -- signaling a bid to hold a sustained protest like those that brought opposition leaders to power in other ex-Soviet republics including neighboring Ukraine.

The authorities made no move to disperse protesters on Sunday, but busloads of riot police idling on a nearby street were a silent reminder of the government's threats of a decisive response.

The crowd was the biggest the opposition had mustered in years, reaching at least 10,000, according to reporters' estimates. After about three hours, a smaller group marched to nearby Victory Square, some laying carnations at a monument there before dispersing around midnight.

"Tomorrow we will show the world our might!" said Kozulin, who the elections chief said received 2.3 percent of the vote. He demanded the release of what he said were hundreds of opposition activists detained during a campaign marred by heavy-handed government harassment.

Meanwhile, the EU said yesterday that the presidential election in Belarus was marred by a "climate of intimidation."

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said the opposition in the former Soviet republic "was systematically intimidated" in campaigning for Sunday's presidential elections in which President Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner with an overwhelming majority.

But the head of the observer mission of a grouping of former Soviet states yesterday called the disputed Belarusian presidential election open and transparent.

Rushailo, in a droning statement that lasted more than a half-hour, said the CIS mission's 467 observers concluded that, despite some technical violations, the Sunday elections took place within the requirements of Belarusian law.