MINSK, 21 May (BelTA) – Election laws will not be amended before the referendum on amending the Constitution, BelTA learned from Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina. The official took part in an international conference on counteracting external challenges and threats from the point of view of the parliamentary dimension of the Union State of Belarus and Russia.
Lidia Yermoshina said: “Let's not idealize any law. It is designed for law-abiding execution after all. Certainly, the election legislation of the Republic of Belarus has to be modernized, it is outdated. The Electoral Code was passed in 2000 and we now live in the year 2021. It means it was a properly developed Electoral Code because it has worked for over 20 years already. Nevertheless, the head of state has given instructions to amend the election laws synchronously after the Constitution is amended. This is why certainly the election legislation will not be changed prior to the constitutional referendum.”
In her words, the referendum will be organized in line with the existing rules and regulations. “But I am convinced all the consequent elections will be organized in line with improved norms that will take into account all the societal challenges that occurred during the latest campaign to elect the president of the Republic of Belarus,” the official noted.
The international conference on counteracting external challenges and threats from the point of view of the parliamentary dimension of the Union State of Belarus and Russia includes online and offline components. Studios in Moscow, Minsk, and other CIS cities were made available. Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, members of the Belarusian parliament and the Russian one, representatives of international organizations, ministries and government agencies, higher educational establishments and research institutes of Belarus and Russia, leading political analysts and law experts were invited to participate in the conference.
The conference includes a plenary session and three panel sessions: “Counteraction of external challenges and threats. Observance of rights and freedoms of citizens in the Union State of Belarus and Russia and in foreign countries”, “Election legislation and the law enforcement practice in the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, and foreign countries”, and “The preservation of historical memory, counteraction of attempts to glorify Nazism and revise results of the Great Patriotic War”.
The conference was organized upon instructions the leadership of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia gave during the 59th session of the assembly.
