Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 13 September (BelTA) – One of the 2020 election campaigns might be moved to an earlier date, Chairperson of the Belarusian Central Election Commission Lidia Yermoshina said in an interview with BelTA.

The head of the Central Election Commission noted that in accordance with the 2020 calendar of elections and referendums the presidential polls and the parliamentary elections fall on almost the same dates in Belarus. The presidential elections must take place no later than 30 August and the elections to the House of representatives not later than 10 September. Lidia Yermoshina does not think that these two campaigns can be held simultaneously. “I do not think these two elections will be held at one time. Most likely, when the time comes, a political solution will be adopted and some electoral campaign will be moved to an earlier date. The head of state and the Parliament will decide which campaign this will be. It is possible to hold elections at an earlier date. But they cannot be postponed to a later date. Indeed, these two campaigns do fall on almost the same dates. The presidential campaign is tied to the date of the last inauguration, the parliamentary ones to the date of the first session,” Lidia Yermoshina said.

She does not rule out holding the presidential and parliamentary campaigns in the same year. “But I think it would be very difficult to hold two consecutive campaigns. Thus the country will have to live through six difficult months. Probably, it would be wiser to hold one of the elections, for example, in the autumn of 2019,” Lidia Yermoshina said.

“I can say that everything will depend on many factors: the international situation and the economic situation. Serious political analysis will be undertaken, the research will be conducted. It is too early to talk about it for the time being,” Lidia Yermoshina said.