1994 Belarusian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 23 June 1994, with a second round on 10 July.[1] They were the first national elections held in Belarus since the country seceded from the Soviet Union three years earlier. The result was a victory for Alexander Lukashenko, who received 81% of the vote in the second round. Voter turnout was 79% in the first round and 71% in the second.[2]

1994 Belarusian presidential election

23 June 1994 (first round)
10 July 1994 (second round)
2001 →
 
Nominee Alexander Lukashenko Vyacheslav Kebich
Party Independent Independent
Popular vote 4,241,026 748,329
Percentage 80.61% 14.22%

First round results

Elected President

Alexander Lukashenko
Independent

In 1995, a year after taking office, Lukashenko won a referendum that gave him the power to dissolve the legislature. In 1996, he won another referendum that dramatically increased his power, and also extended his original five-year term to 2001. As a result, the 1994 presidential election is considered, to date, the only free election held in Belarus since it broke away from the Soviet Union.[3][4]

Results edit

CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Alexander LukashenkoIndependent2,646,14045.764,241,02680.61
Vyacheslav KebichIndependent1,023,17417.69748,32914.22
Zianon PazniakBelarusian Popular Front757,19513.09
Stanislav ShushkevichIndependent585,14310.12
Alaksandar DubkoBelarusian Agrarian Party353,1196.11
Vasily Novikov [be]Party of Belarusian Communists253,0094.38
Against all165,0232.85271,7835.17
Total5,782,803100.005,261,138100.00
Valid votes5,782,80397.945,261,13899.67
Invalid/blank votes121,5092.0617,1930.33
Total votes5,904,312100.005,278,331100.00
Registered voters/turnout7,476,58678.977,476,20570.60
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Maps edit

References edit

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p252 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p262
  3. ^ Why Does The “Last Dictatorship In Europe” Hold Elections? Belarus Digest, 26 March 2012
  4. ^ Profile: Europe's last dictator? BBC News, 10 September 2001