Presidential election 2015 in Belarus

Mikhail Orda said: “The federation of trade unions is an organization that clearly feels the mood of the society since we are represented in all the branches of our economy. There is no doubt that we cannot stay away from what is going on in the country and respectively we cannot stay away from the election because the election will determine the country’s future.”

The head of the Belarusian trade union movement said that trade unions across the globe pursue similar goals and purposes. “Those include primarily the protection of rights of working people, the provision of social guarantees to those in need, and the enforcement of collective employment agreements,” noted Mikhail Orda. He pointed out that social matters are monitored at the top level in Belarus. The work is focused on preserving jobs and labor collectives, timely payment of salaries, and the provision of social guarantees to all the people, who need them. Apart from that, a radical stratification of the society on the basis of individual incomes is discouraged. “The trade unions believe that corruption and a radical stratification of the society on the basis of revenues are the things that contribute to the emergence of social shocks and tensions,” noted the TUFB Chairman.

According to the source, the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus closely cooperates with the Belarus government and the union of employers. Emerging economic problems are regularly discussed thanks to that. “We often argue. There are issues that we take more time to think about. But most importantly, we always try to find a compromise,” assured the official.

Mikhail Orda also added that every two years the government and the national associations of employers and trade unions sign a general agreement to stipulate general guidelines. “A short while ago we managed to strike an agreement that will allow our experts to evaluate all the government resolutions that affect social guarantees and rights of the working people before the documents are released,” said the official. According to Mikhail Orda, the novelty will allow making compromises that suit employers, employees, and the government since the resolutions under development directly affect salaries and various spheres of life of the working classes. “We believe it is a very important element that contributes to the continued social stability. It is necessary to resolve disputes through talks instead of riots,” he was convinced.

In turn, the Turkish MP Reha Denemec, who leads the PACE mission, noted that the mission was only preliminary, however, he hopes that they would be able to be in Belarus on 11 October, the presidential election day.

PACE’s preliminary mission is in Belarus on a visit on 8-9 September. The delegation includes Reha Denemec (Turkey), Andrea Rigoni (Italy), Jonas Gunnarsson (Sweden), Andrej Hunko (Germany), and representatives of the PACE secretariat. While in Belarus members of the delegation have met with the speakers of both chambers of the Belarus parliament, the head of the Central Election Commission, and representatives of the civil society.

In early July 2015 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe appointed observers to monitor the presidential election in Belarus. In accordance with the preliminary arrangements the mission will include 27 politicians from five parties. The observation mission includes PACE rapporteur on the situation in Belarus Andrea Rigoni. The observers will represent Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Italy, Austria, Spain, Turkey, Armenia, France, Germany, the UK and other countries.