MINSK, 16 February (BelTA) – It is impossible to implement the OSCE/ODIHR conceptual recommendations before the 2016 parliamentary elections in Belarus, Belarus' CEC Secretary Nikolai Lozovik said at a meeting of the interdepartmental working group of experts on 16 February, BelTA has learned.
"Preparing and making amendments and additions to the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Belarus is a very complex process requiring coordinated work of a number of government bodies and are time-consuming. Given this, we just do not have time to implement the conceptual recommendations before the parliamentary elections,” Nikolai Lozovik said. Moreover, the Venice Commission (at the Council of Europe – note by BelTA), and also the OSCE/ODIHR do not recommend changing the electoral laws less than a year before the upcoming elections,” he added.
At the same time, he said, during the preparations for the parliamentary campaign it seems feasible to implement the recommendations aimed at changing individual electoral procedures through resolutions of the Central Election Commission.
Nikolai Lozovik noted that some work in this direction is already underway. For example, some recommendations will be taken into account when preparing the methodical recommendations for electoral commissions and an indicative scenario, training courses for members of the precinct election commissions.
An interdepartmental working group of experts to review the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations on improving the electoral process in Belarus was established on 12 February. The experts include representatives of the Central Electoral Commission, the National Center of Legislation and Legal Research, both chambers of Parliament, Justice Ministry, the Information Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The experts are expected to analyze the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations contained in the final report of the observation mission for the presidential elections 2015. On the basis of this analysis, they will develop proposals for improving the electoral process for further consideration by the Central Election Commission.
