Presidential election 2015 in Belarus

MINSK, 27 July (BelTA) – International missions are provided with all necessary conditions to observe the election process in Belarus, Secretary of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Nikolai Lozovik said in an interview to the Kontury show on the ONT TV channel on 26 July, BelTA has learned.

“I believe no mission can complain on the organization of the election process and working conditions in Belarus. We have introduced amendments to the law to provide observers with the right to see the vote count,” he said.

At the same time, supporting his statement by the experience of the previous years, the CEC Secretary noted that the final statement of the observers is not always objective: “Sometimes observers say they have no complaints regarding the election process in the country and there are only desultory remarks. However, while working on the final statement, the group of observers turns these remarks into big drawbacks.”

According to Nikolai Lozovik, a big number of international observers, including a representative group of OSCE/ODIHR, will be present at the forthcoming presidential election in Belarus.

According to the CEC Secretary, sometimes there is criticism from the opposition that there is a small percent of their representatives in territorial election commissions. For instance, in Grodno the oblast election commission has refused to include three opposition representatives. “All three were in conflict with the law. I sometimes think that politicians do it on purpose in order not to be included into the commission and then complain,” Nikolai Lozovik said.

Nikolai Lozovik also stressed that a part of contenders seek attention, promotion. “If the initiative group comprises 100-120 people I can say with confidence that this group will not be able to collect 100,000 signatures. I believe these contenders know it for themselves and thus have no big ambitions to be nominated for the post of the President,” he stressed.