DDoS attack disrupts launch of Coordination Council election
Platform for voting at Coordiation Council online election
May 12, Pozirk. A massive DDoS attack disrupted the launch of the opposition Coordination Council election scheduled to start at 10 pm on May 11, Alena Prychodźka of the Council’s election commission said in a video message posted on Telegram.
The activist described the attack on the online voting platform as “unprecedented” in scale, adding that all online activities were blocked. Developers from Pavieł Libier’s team are currently testing the platform for stability, she noted.
The platform’s web address has been kept secret for security reasons, with the link posted yesterday evening on the Telegram channel of Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja.
As many as 174 candidates representing nine political groups are running in the elections for the 80-member Coordination Council scheduled for May 11-17. Belarusian authorities branded all groups as “extremist” in an attempt to disrupt the voting.
The Coordination Council is a non-governmental body established in 2020 to facilitate a democratic transfer of power in Belarus. The Council originally had 64 core members with a seven-member leadership board. Amid the post-election crackdown in Belarus, many of the Council’s members were arrested or forced into exile.
In 2022 and 2023, the Coordination Council was re-established abroad as a body consisting of representatives of various pro-democracy groups in exile.
In May 2024, the Council held its first direct online elections, with more than 6,700 citizens of Belarus reportedly taking part in them.
With 28 seats, Pavieł Łatuška and the Movement for Freedom currently represent the Council’s largest political group. Łatuška is the deputy head of the opposition transition cabinet led by Cichanoŭskaja.
Belarusian authorities are investing heavily in efforts to disrupt the Coordination Council election, Libier noted last week. The opposition structures are under massive attack, unlike during the 2024 election, which was marked only by some DDoS attacks, he told journalists. Rights defenders also reported pressure on the candidates’ families in Belarus.
