Belarus parliament elections

MINSK, 29 July (BelTA) – Personal characteristics of candidates and their authority in the society were taken into account when selecting members of precinct election commissions, head of the Belarusian Central Election Commission Lidia Yermoshina told reporters, BelTA has learned.

The CEC head emphasized that the formation of precinct election commissions ended on 27 July. A total of 5,971 commissions have been set up in the country. They include about 66,000 members: representatives of different political parties, public associations, citizens, and labor collectives. 71.2% of election officials are women. Representatives of political parties account for 5.2% of the membership. “Opposition parties nominated 303 representatives; 53 have made part of the commissions,” Lidia Yermoshina noted.

According to her, when forming election commissions a recommendation was given to assess the personality of a candidate as a whole, including their political and moral qualities, social standing and authority in the society. “Why it happens that opposition parties are often dissatisfied with the decisions taken in their respect? Everything depends on specific candidates. Many of the applications from the Belarusian leftist party Just World were satisfied. Why? Because these candidates have long been ‘well-built’ into the society. People respect them. Whether a person is employed or has any positive standing in his neighborhood, all of these factors are taken into account. It is not about the affiliation with an opposition party but about the candidate’s personal characteristics,” Lidia Yermoshina said.

Elections to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus will take place on 11 September 2016.