Presidential election 2015 in Belarus

Lidia Yermoshina said: “No reports have been published so far but I can say that the missions dig deep. I can confirm it. OSCE representatives contact the Central [Election] Commission in person every week. They talk for a lot of time, look into various problems, copy all the complaints relating to the election and the answers given to the complaints. Certainly, all of it will be in the conclusion.”

She noted that key experts of the OSCE ODIHR mission do not speak Russian very well, this is why they sometimes fail to understand the full extent of some legal norms concerning elections. “We use different linguistic structures, those that were in use in Russia and the Soviet Union. It is one style of laying down the law. The Anglo-Saxon system used in Europe and the United States uses a totally different form to explain legal norms. I am afraid even the juridical logic is different. Certainly, the fact creates certain problems that impede the understanding of the ongoing events,” believes the head of the Belarusian election organization agency.

The Belarus president election is scheduled for 11 October. At present long-term missions of the OSCE ODIHR and the CIS are monitoring the progress of the election campaign. Short-term observers will arrive on the day of the election. PACE representatives are expected to join the monitoring process. PACE’s pre-electoral mission was in Belarus on a visit on 8-9 September. The Central Election Commission of Belarus has also sent invitations directly to the election organization authorities of other countries.