MINSK, 15 February (BelTA) - Belarus is ready for the referendum, First Deputy Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee, CIS Executive Secretary, head of the office of the CIS observation mission Leonid Anfimov told the media on 15 February, BelTA has learned.
“We will not be able to cover all the polling stations of course. We will attend a part of them. Today it is very important for us to hold meetings with local commissions. We have already met with nearly all of them. Tomorrow I will go to Grodno to meet with the regional commission. Then I will travel to Lida, Novogrudok. There, we will also meet with local commissions, take a look at how they are ready for the referendum. Also selectively. We have almost 100% coverage of all territorial election bodies of Belarus. In addition, we have met with representatives of the Supreme Court and the General Prosecutor's Office. Yesterday we had a meeting at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and discussed law and order during the referendum,” said Leonid Anfimov.
According to him, everything is on schedule. “The situation in Belarus is calm. Everything is ready to hold the referendum in a calm atmosphere, in accordance with international norms and the domestic legislation of the country,” the head of the office of the CIS observation mission said.
Leonid Anfimov added that for the time being 70 observers have been accredited. "23 more have filed for registration. I think there will be 30 more people," he said.
Leonid Anfimov stressed that the interest in the referendum in Belarus is very high and constructive. "There is an interest to help Belarus to fight back information attacks on it [from Western countries], to give the international community a chance to make an objective opinion, to ensure that everything should comply with the framework of the legislation and the referendum should be held as a free, democratic expression of the will of the Belarusian people," Leonid Anfimov said.
The CIS observation mission began monitoring the referendum in Belarus on 1 February. This is the 11th times that the CIS has sent its observers to Belarus. All in all, this is the 116th observation mission in the CIS member states.
The core group of CIS observers will arrive in Belarus 2 or 3 days before the referendum and will monitor it in all regions of the republic. Members of the mission will be present at the opening of the polling sites, and will observe the voting process and vote counting. All in all, the CIS mission will include from 100 to 120 observers from the CIS member states.
On 20 January Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed Decree No.14 “On calling the nationwide referendum”. The main voting day is 27 February. Belarusians also have the opportunity to cast their votes during the period from 22 to 26 February.
