MOSCOW, 21 March (BelTA) – The MPs of the Belarus-Russia Union State Parliamentary Assembly, who took part in the observation of the presidential elections in Russia on 18 March as part of the CIS election observation mission, named the elections as open and legitimate, BelTA learned from the PA press service.
“The delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly believes that the voting process met the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation and the international standards for democratic elections, and that the elections of the President of the Russian Federation held on 18 March 2018 were open, free, democratic and legitimate,” the press service said.
The Union State MPs stated that all necessary conditions were created in Russia to monitor the elections. “The members of the delegation emphasized a high technical level of the electoral process, the openness and transparency of the elections, the involvement of the civil society and public organizations in the process,” the press service said.
The PA delegation consisted of 26 observers. It was headed by Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly, Chairman of the Standing Committee on International Affairs of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Valery Voronetsky.
The observation was carried out at the polling stations of Moscow and St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad Oblast, Rostov Oblast, Tatarstan, the Chechen Republic, and Krasnodar Krai. “During the visits to the Russian regions, the Parliamentary Assembly MPs met with representatives of the regional election commissions, local legislative and executive authorities, visited the candidates' headquarters, situational centers and public headquarters to monitor the presidential elections of the Russian Federation. On the election day the Parliamentary Assembly MPs were present at the opening and closing of the polling stations, and in the vote count,” the press service added.
