MINSK, 3 March (BelTA) – The expert group under the Central Election Commission of Belarus is accumulating materials for the sake of producing a joint conclusion on the OSCE ODIHR recommendations. The statement was made by Secretary of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Nikolai Lozovik as he commented on the work of the recently established expert group, BelTA has learned.
“Now members of the expert group are sharing information, exchanging opinions, accumulating materials for the joint conclusion. Every ministry and government agency, which representatives have been included into the group, has submitted its proposals. The proposals have been forwarded to the head of the group. The head of the group has emailed every proposal to members of the group for perusal so that they could discuss everything thoroughly,” explained Nikolai Lozovik.
In his words, within a month of its establishment the expert group under the aegis of the Central Election Commission is supposed to work out joint proposals and produce a collegial opinion. The conclusions will then be considered by the Central Election Commission and submitted to the head of state in a report.
Nikolai Lozovik also noted that no sessions of the expert group involving mass media have been planned so far, the process goes on in a routine manner.
The interagency expert group was set up on 12 February to look into the OSCE ODIHR's recommendations on ways to improve the election process in Belarus. The experts include 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.
The experts are busy analyzing the OSCE ODIHR recommendations laid down by the final report of the mission sent to observe the Belarus president election in 2015.
