Belarus parliament elections

MINSK, 5 September (BelTA) – The Central Election Commission of Belarus has made a remark about an inaccuracy in the intermediate report released by the OSCE ODIHR mission that was sent to monitor elections to the lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament. Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina made the relevant statement on the air of the radio station Belarus One on 5 September, BelTA has learned.

In particular, Lidia Yermoshina noted that the observer missions will present conclusions on 12 September. “A template is in development now. The text of the statement that the missions will make and that will describe the entire period of the election campaign is being created. However, I cannot say we agree with everything being said, for instance, in the conclusion of the OSCE observer mission. And we have already remarked upon it,” said the official.

According to the source, the intermediate report released by the OSCE ODIHR mission several days ago reads that participants of the monitoring effort were unable to always see the process of registration of candidates for parliamentary seats. Lidia Yermoshina made it clear that it was incorrect since candidates are registered at a session of the relevant election commission where observers are present. “They mix two notions — and they are not going to correct it — when they believe that preparations for registering a candidate (examination of documents) means registration, too. They believe that the documents should be checked by observers instead of members of the commission or experts. Naturally it is not feasible because the documents that candidates produce have to be checked by professionals,” she said. For instance, the Tax and Duties Ministry looks into the revenues, the Interior Ministry examines passport data, and so on. “The human factor represented by the election commission is excluded from the process,” said Lidia Yermoshina. “This is why we will never agree with international observers on the matter because observation efforts cover and should cover only the operation of election commissions and legal relations in this field only. Observation should not include the operation of government agencies, which bear the responsibility and have the relevant databases.”

In particular, the intermediate report released by the observer mission sent by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights reads that international and domestic observers could not always fully observe the process of registration of candidates. So far 341 foreign observers representing the OSCE ODIHR have been accredited to monitor elections to the lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament.

Elections to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus are scheduled for 11 September.