MINSK, 17 October (BelTA) – The CIS observation mission is determined to be in the keeping with modern technology while monitoring parliamentary and presidential elections and referendums in Belarus, Secretary General-Head of the Secretariat of the Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Dmitry Kobitsky said at the international conference Institute of Elections as the Mechanism of Public Authority Legitimation in Minsk, BelTA has learned.
Dmitry Kobitsky spoke about the use of information technology in electoral processes, the emergence of new campaigning methods, new opportunities to keep track of the voting process. The CIS observation mission is improving its work taking into account these trends. “There is room for improvement. We should be up to par as far as information, technology and legislation are concerned,” he said.
First Deputy Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee Viktor Guminsky pointed to the high reputation and credit earned by the CIS observation mission over the years of its work. Many proposals put forward by the mission were incorporated into electoral laws of the countries where they worked.
The international conference Institute of Elections as the Mechanism of Public Authority Legitimation is taking place in Minsk on 17-18 October with the participation of experts in election law. The event highlights issues of constitution-making and observation of election campaigns.
One plenary session will be dedicated to the elections to the Belarusian parliament, the election legislation and the practice of electoral campaigns in the country.
Speaking at the opening of the conference was Chairman of the Council of the Republic Mikhail Myasnikovich. “Elections are an integral part of a democratic rule-of-law state, a major form of declaration of will of citizens,” he emphasized. The speaker recalled that the Electoral Code of Belarus has earned a high expert opinion. The code was amended several times with a view to formalizing legal mechanisms that ensure full implementation of electoral rights of citizens, Mikhail Myasnikovich said.
The event is organized by the CIS Executive Committee, the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, and the Central Election Commission of Belarus. According to the CIS headquarters in Minsk, the conference is held one month prior to the elections to the House of Representatives slated for 17 November.
