Presidential election 2015 in Belarus

MINSK, 18 August (BelTA) - The CIS observation mission will keep in touch with their OSCE counterparts during the presidential election in Belarus, head of the CIS observation mission at the presidential election, Chairman of the Executive Committee, CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev told journalists after his meeting with Chairperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina on 18 August, BelTA has learned.

“We closely cooperate with observers from other missions, including those from the OSCE and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), as we did during all the election campaigns in the post-Soviet space,” Sergei Lebedev stressed. He added that CIS observers also keep in touch with their colleagues working in Central Asia. “We maintain close ties with international observers. We always learn something from one another,” he explained.

Sergei Lebedev noted that CIS observers always respect the laws of the host country. “It is an ironclad rule for us. We respect the laws of the host country and never try to lecture or find faults. Every country has its laws and we should respect them,” Sergei Lebedev said.

He believes that election observers should be friendly. “We come to these countries as friends, as partners within the CIS. We know one another well. If we find a problem during a campaign, we go to the people responsible for it and tell them how to rectify it,” Sergei Lebedev noted.

“Our main task is to make sure that the citizens exercise their right to freedom of expression,” the head of the CIS mission stressed.