Belarus

With the major opposition parties boycotting parliamentary elections on September 23, claiming a lack of political liberalisation, preliminary results show that the elected parliament will be predominantly loyal to President Alexander Lukashenko. The president has called for the opposition not to engage in any form of political protest against the election result. However, given the aftermath of the presidential election at the end of 2010, which resulted in widespread protests and a harsh crackdown by Belarusian security services, we see strong potential for a repeat of this outcome over the coming weeks.

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