Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 16 March (BelTA) – The expert group under the Central Election Commission of Belarus (CEC) will continue its work after the parliamentary elections which are due in September 2016, BelTA learned from the Belarusian CEC Secretary Nikolai Lozovik.

“After the meeting held on 15 March the expert group will continue to study the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations on improving the electoral process in Belarus and will analyze the changes which we can introduce to the legislation after the parliamentary elections in 2016,” Nikolai Lozovik said.

According to him, the departments and agencies which representatives have made part of the interagency group at the CEC, will be involved, one way or another, in the process of amending the electoral laws. Since these departments have already delegated their authorized representatives, they will continue their work related to the OSCE recommendations, Nikolai Lozovik said.

After the parliamentary elections, which will take into account only those proposals that can be implemented through decisions of the Central Commission, the focus will shift to other initiatives that can be implemented through changes to the legislation. “Naturally, in this case the Belarusian President and Parliament will use their authorities more widely as the Central Election Commission does not have the right to the legislative initiative,” Nikolai Lozovik said.

The other day the CEC released a report on the work of the interagency expert group to review the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations related to the improvement of the electoral process in Belarus. In particular, it said that it would be unadvisable to consider the amendments to the Electoral Code now.

At the same time the expert group has come up with proposals on measures to improve the election process without amending the legislation. The measures can be implemented in the course of the parliamentary elections in 2016. The proposals are aimed at making the formation of election commissions more open, at raising the public’s awareness about results of complaints about election disputes, at enabling the conditions for monitoring election procedures. The proposals will be submitted for consideration of the head of state.

The interagency expert group includes representatives of the Central Election Commission, the National Center for Legislation and Legal Studies, both chambers of the parliament, the Justice Ministry, the Information Ministry, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The group is headed by CEC member Yelena Dmukhailo.