Belarus parliament elections

MINSK, 17 August (BelTA) – The number of party-nominated candidates to the House of Representatives has decreased at the registration stage due to their careless attitude to the preparation of documents for registration, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina said in an interview with the First National Channel of the Belarusian Radio on 17 August, BelTA has learned.

“At the registration stage, the party lists become shorter as some of the party-nominated candidates fail to get into the spirit of the elections and take a careless approach to the preparation of the registration documents,” the official explained. She noted that such candidates believe that they do their party a favor by consenting to stand in the elections. “They think that those people who convinced them to engage in the process should take care of all the documentation,” Lidia Yermoshina said.

Meanwhile, the package of documents for registration to be filed with election commissions has been expanded in response to the voters’ requests for more information about the candidates. For instance, if a candidate claims that he holds a degree, he must provide a document proving this fact. As for the place of work, a copy of employment records is required. Besides, if a candidate is nominated by a party, he must demonstrate his party membership card or a similar document. “Unfortunately, not all our candidates submit a complete package of documents. Much depends on the reputation and responsible attitude of the candidate himself and his competence,” Lidia Yermoshina believes.

She also said a few words about anonymous letters that voters write about some registered candidates. “We receive letters (some of them are unsigned) from voters alleging that some candidates have provided false biographical data. They stress that it was impossible to become a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union at the age of 19, while one of the candidates claims so,” the CEC Chairperson said. She explained that the election commissions verify only up-to-date biographical information that gives a modern-day picture of the candidate. This information includes the date of birth, qualifications, occupation, party affiliation, and the place of residence. “If a candidate misreports some of these data, the election commission will make the necessary corrections in the information posters and in the voting ballot,” Lidia Yermoshina said.