... loyal security forces are to the incumbent’s administration
In the second half of 2020, within a time span of two months, post-election protests occurred in two former Soviet countries. In Kyrgyzstan, the protests after the October parliamentary elections led to a swift and complete replacement of people at the very top of the decision-making structure, without attracting much international attention. On the other hand, in Belarus, where the presidential election sparked large-scale protests closely monitored by the international community, Alexander Lukashenko has managed to stay in power. The matter of the reasons for such different protest outcomes in Belarus and Kyrgyzstan ...
... implemented. According to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) the presidential election of 11 October 2015 made it clear that Belarus still has a long way to go before it complies with the OSCE’s standards for democratic elections.
The newly reelected Belarusian president made a fair
comment
about the election: “This election will become an improvement only if the West wants it. If the West is willing, then there is nothing that can stop it.” Fair enough, but the “willingness” ...
... officials must be told twice to make them fulfill President's instructions on burning issues
."
External Matters
belstat.gov.by
Commodity Structure of Exports and Imports,
Belarus, 2014 (In Russian)
The third quarter of 2015 will be a major test for Belarus. With presidential elections looming, economic logic often tends to be replaced by political populism, which hampers responses to emerging challenges.
The external challenges, which are hardly manageable by Minsk and may affect developments in Belarus in the second half ...
