2004 Belarusian parliamentary election

2004 Belarusian parliamentary election
Belarus
← 2000 17 October 2004 (first round)
27 October 2004 (second round)
20 March 2005 (third round)
2008 →

All 110 seats in the House of Representatives
56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout90.14%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
CPB Tatsyana Holubeva [be] 5.49 8 +2
BAP Mikhail Shimansky 2.38 3 −2
LDPB Sergei Gaidukevich 2.01 1 0
Independents 76.16 98 +4
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Speaker of the House of Representatives before Speaker of the House of Representatives after
Vadim Popov [be]
Independent
Vladimir Konoplev [be]
Independent

Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 17 October 2004, with a second round of voting in two constituencies on 27 October, and a third round in one on 20 March 2005.[1][2] The vast majority of successful candidates, 98 of 110, were independents. Voter turnout was reported to be 90% in the first round.[2]

A total of 359 candidates contested the election, with opposing parties claiming that around 40% of their candidates were not registered.[2] The OCSE delegation noted that although all candidates were given a set amount of free television and radio airtime and a free statement in the national press, over 80% of television news time was dedicated to President Alexander Lukashenko in the five weeks before the election. They also noted concerns about the independence of the Electoral Commission and a lack of transparency during the voting and counting process.[2] The government also closed down nine independent newspapers in the lead-up to the elections.[2]

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p252 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ a b c d e Belarus: Elections held in 2004 Inter-Parliamentary Union