Presidential election 2015 in Belarus

MOSCOW, 13 October (BelTA) – The counting of votes for the Belarus president election was transparent, Russian Senator Stepan Kirichuk, a member of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly mission that monitored the presidential election in Belarus, said at a press conference in Moscow on 13 October, BelTA has learned.

“I monitored the vote count. Everything was transparent,” Stepan Kirichuk said. He believes that the criticism of early voting in Belarus is groundless. “I met with some Belarusians who cast their ballots early. They confirmed that nobody asked them to participate in early voting. They just had other plans for the Election Day,” the observer noted.

For her part, Lyudmila Kozlova who also was a member of the CIS IPA observer mission said that she visited some 20 polling stations. “Representatives of the Belarusian opposition also monitored the vote count at the polling site where I was working. They tried to find violations, asked provocative questions, and election officials were giving clear responses. In the end, the opposition representatives accepted the results of the vote count,” Lyudmila Kozlova added.

She said that the presidential election in Belarus was well-organized, without mud-slinging. The turnout was high.

“I saw there were queues outside some polling stations before the opening of the polls. People cared for the election. The turnout was high, more than 87%. When people care, the country has a future,” the observer emphasized.

As for the voting results, Lyudmila Kozlova pointed out that Belarusian people chose stability. “They voted for stability, happiness, freedom, life without wars,” she said.