principles of an inclusive democratic process, whereby citizens have the right to seek political office without discrimination, candidates to present their views without obstruction, and voters to learn about them and discuss them freely, were largely ignored. A Council of Europe report describes the danger that politicians risk of being assassinated, summarising an investigation into allegations that the present head of the Belarusian Special Rapid Reaction Unit (SOBR), Dmitri Pavlichenko, assassinated two senior politicians, a businessman and a journalist in 1999. 2004 Referendum The 17 October 2004 Belarus Referendum was declared by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in his decree #431 on 7 September 2004. The referendum was about the following question: Do you permit the first President of the Republic of Belarus A.G. Lukashenko to participate as a candidate for Presidency of the Republic of Belarus during the President elections and do you adopt the Part I of Article 81 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus in the following wording: "President is elected for the term of 5 years directly by the people of the Republic of Belarus by means of the universal, free, equal and direct suffrage under the voting by secret ballot"? 6,307,395 citizens took part in the referendum, or 90.28% of the total electorate of 6,986,163. 79.42% voted for, 9.90% voted against, the rest of the ballots were declared invalid. The referendum is considered to having been held in violation of Belarusian Electoral Code, as its Paragraph 112 lists "questions connected with election and dismissal of the President of the Republic of Belarus" among questions prohibited from being brought out to the Republican referendum. 2006 Presidential Election The next round of elections took place on 19 March 2006, and this election also included selecting the President. Lukashenko was opposed in the election by Alaksandar Milinkievič, a candidate representing a coalition of oppositional parties. Another opposition candidate, Alaksandar Kazulin of the Social Democrats was detained and beaten by police during protests surrounding the Lukashenko sponsored event, the All Belarusian People's Assembly. This event, among others, have caused for concern that the 2006 elections had irregularities. The President won a landslide victory, over 80% of the vote. It was however deemed unfair by the OSCE. 2008 Parliamentary Election |- !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Seats |- |align=left|Communist Party of Belarus (Kamunistyčnaja partyja Biełarusi) |align="right" |6 |- |align=left|Agrarian Party of Belarus (Ahrarnaja partyja Bełarusi) |align="right" |1 |- |align=left|Non-partisans (worker's