Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 20 February (BelTA) – The local councils of deputies of the 28^th convocation will go fully operational within a month, Chairwoman of the Belarusian Central Election Commission (CEC) Lidia Yermoshina said in an interview to Belarus 1 TV Channel, BelTA has learned.

“The deputies will embark on work a month after the elections, maybe even earlier. By mid March all the local councils will be operating in full swing,” said Lidia Yermoshina.

A total of 18,110 deputies were elected to the local councils of Belarus. The voters’ turnout exceeded 77%. “The elections were very active, with a great number of observers: more than 35,000 local and 46 international observers,” the CEC head noted.

“In general, the elections went quite smooth. There were few complaints. All observers are well aware of the scope of their rights and duties. There was no complaint received from international observers regarding the elections," Lidia Yermoshina said.

In her words, two representatives of the Belarus’ CEC will observe the presidential elections in Russia. "I am not going, we need to teach others who have never observed the elections in Russia, especially the presidential elections. This is useful experience for the CEC members ahead of the presidential elections in Belarus,” Lidia Yermoshina said.