Belarus parliament elections

PACE signals intention to send short-term observers to Belarus

Photo from the archive

MINSK, 24 September (BelTA) – The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus has received a preliminary signal from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe about arrival of a mission of short-term observers to monitor Belarus’ parliamentary elections, CEC Chairperson Lidia Yermoshina told reporters on 24 September, BelTA has learned.

Belarus has not yet received notifications from PACE about sending a mission. “We have received at least a preliminary signal from them that a mission of short-term observers will arrive,” Lidia Yermoshina said.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has not sent any notifications, either. Thus, as far as international observers are concerned, only representatives of the Commonwealth of Independent States have been accredited to monitor Belarus’ elections. “As of now, more than 50 observers from the CIS have received accreditation,” Lidia Yermoshina informed.

When asked about the CEC response to possible criticism on the part of the OSCE, Lidia Yermoshina said that reasonable criticism will be taken into account. “Biased criticism will be met with objection and letters of response. This is a normal practice worldwide,” she emphasized.

A reminder, Belarus’ CEC sent invitations to monitor its parliamentary elections to the central election commissions of the former USSR republics except for Estonia and Lithuania. Invitations were also sent to the Association of World Election Bodies headquartered in the Republic of Korea and the National Election Commission of this country.

On 20 October Belarus’ CEC representatives will monitor local and parliamentary elections in four single-member constituencies in Moldova.

The elections to the House of Representatives will be held on 17 November, to the Council of the Republic on 7 November.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks