Presidential election 2015 in Belarus

MINSK, 22 September (BelTA) – The CIS mission sent to observe the Belarus president election campaign released an interim report on 22 September, BelTA has learned. The report is available on the CIS Executive Committee website.

In particular, the report reads that observers were invited to Belarus in advance. The fact allowed taking care of organizational matters with regard to forming the observation mission and securing systemic monitoring.

The report covers the period from 18 August through 22 September 2015.

In accordance with the report all the necessary legal, organizational, and technical conditions for the international observation of the election process have been enabled in Belarus. The fact testifies to the openness and transparency of the election process in the country.

According to the source, as part of the election monitoring effort the head of the CIS election observation mission met with Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina and Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei.

Sergei Lebedev was made familiar with the operation of the territorial election commissions in Dzerzhinsk and Logoisk. The CIS observers held meetings and exchanged opinions about the election campaign with top officials of the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Interior Ministry, and the OSCE ODIHR mission.

The report reads that the CIS election observers operate in an open manner, with their activities covered by printed media, television and radio. The CIS election observation mission has released information messages and press releases and has given interview to mass media.

The report also declares that the CIS mission’s operation is arranged in compliance with universally recognized principles and norms of the international law with regard to the organization of and actual elections as well as Belarusian laws. The CIS mission does not interfere with the election process and respects the country’s sovereignty.

At present the CIS mission includes 312 accredited observers, who represent Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, and the CIS Executive Committee.

As many as 43 observers work on a long-term basis. The mission’s formation continues.