MINSK, 20 November (BelTA) – We can expect high competition in the parliamentary elections in some city councils, Chairperson of the Belarusian Central Election Commission Lidia Yermoshina said in an interview with the Belarusian 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.
“I am absolutely sure that we will see competition for parliamentary seats in the Minsk City Council of Deputies. I believe there will be interesting local elections in our oblast centers. We do not expect such things in rural areas, of course,” Lidia Yermoshina noted.
The CEC chairperson also spoke about her participation in the conference of the Association of European Election Officials which took place in Bulgaria. The conference discussed the voters' consciousness in the era of digital technology, the impact of the internet and social media on the elections. “Paraphrasing one known phrase about politics a representative of the UNDP said: If you don't go to social networks, they will come to you. We are proceeding from the fact, and representatives of the Russian Federation talked about it, that it is impossible to control the internet, fight or measure the degree of the influence of the social media on voters. Perhaps, it is insignificant and we simply demonize its impact,” she said.
As BelTA earlier informed, the 2018 local elections are scheduled for 18 February. Nomination of candidates to deputies of the local councils will be running from 10 December 2017 to 8 January 2018 inclusively. The election campaign will be held up to 18 February.
Running for the seat at the local council of deputies can be a citizen of Belarus, over 18 years old, with no criminal record and living within the corresponding administrative unit. Russian citizens who permanently live in Belarus also have the right to take part in the elections.
