MINSK, 10 June (BelTA) – Belarus will start inviting international observers once the presidential candidates are registered, BelTA learned from Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina on 10 June.
Speaking about the government conference hosted by the head of state to discuss the organization of the presidential election among other things, Lidia Yermoshina remarked it was a traditional meeting. In her words, in the course of an election campaign there are always issues that need to be addressed at the highest level.
She went on saying: “Observation of the election by foreign organizations and international experts is one of the matters discussed during the meeting. It is our standard practice: all elections in the country proceed under broad international observation. An action algorithm for inviting international observers is being worked out. It was decided that as the epidemic situation in the country improves, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send the relevant invitations to international organizations that traditionally monitor our elections: the OSCE ODIHR and the CIS. However, I think it will happen after the registration of presidential candidates is over. I hope the epidemic situation will get better by then.”
Participants of the meeting also discussed the operation of the information center, which is traditionally set up in the Palace of the Republic on the ballot day. Practical assistance to the Central Election Commission was discussed as well because the commission will need additional personnel to handle complaints and queries of citizens. Representatives of the parliament and the National Center of Legislation and Legal Research will help with that.
Apart from that, according to Lidia Yermoshina, Aleksandr Lukashenko encouraged the CEC to work as attentively as possible. He said he did not want the CEC to invalidate the signatures collected by potential presidential candidates on formalistic grounds. Lidia Yermoshina said: “I think such measures will help take into account all the electoral preferences in the course of registration of presidential candidates and, naturally, on the ballot day.”
BelTA reported earlier that Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko held a government conference on 10 June to discuss topical social and political matters. The organization of the election campaign was high on the agenda. “I would like to discuss the issues that [Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission] Lidia Yermoshina may have before the beginning of the most important period of registration and campaigning of future presidential candidates,” the head of state said. Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that this meeting was a traditional one: “We have always considered the problems that we will have to address and the matter of assistance to the Central Electoral Commission.”
