February 08, 2006
Opposition Politicians in Belarus Campaign Online
Politicians in Belarus who oppose incumbent President Lukashenka and others in power have turned to the internet to get their message out.
The internet is one of the only sources of free media in the tiny country, where newspapers, radio, and television are all under state control, and the opposition candidates are taking notice. All four candidates All of the four candidates for the upcoming presidential election, including the incumbent, have launched campaign websites.
In spite of the extraordinary digital divide within the country, opposition candidate Alyaksandr Milinkevich's website, which was launched in November 2005, currently attracts more than 1,000 visitors every day. Where only 2 percent of the population had access to the Internet in the previous presidential election in 2001, now nearly 15 percent do.
What effect will the new technology have on the presidential race? We'll have to wait until March 19 to find out.
Posted by Buzz Webster at February 8, 2006 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)