MINSK, 27 January (BelTA) — Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Nurlan Yermekbayev congratulated Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko on his victory in the presidential election, BelTA has learned.
“On behalf of the SCO observer mission, let me congratulate you on this convincing victory. We already learned the data of the Central Election Commission of Belarus. On our part, we regard the invitation to monitor the election as a sign of Belarus' openness to external observation, trust and respect for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” Nurlan Yermekbayev said.
He pointed out that the SCO observer mission always complies with the principles of objectivity and neutrality. The organization believes that every country's elections are held first and foremost in the interests of the people.
“We need to take into account the specifics of this or that state. This is what we proceed from. We assess only the process of preparation and conduct of elections, but not the results of elections,” the SCO secretary general said.
“Even if each observer (the mission includes observers from seven states) makes some minor proposals, we discuss them bilaterally with the central election authorities. In general, we saw a very high level of both organization of the election in Belarus and training of all members of the commissions at polling stations. We also noticed great and sincere enthusiasm of ordinary people, voters who wanted to participate in making decisions about the future of their country,” he added.
In this regard, Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked: “The worst thing that can happen is to fail people who trust you. Living up to people’s expectations is the greatest mission for me (and probably for any person in position of power, especially president).”
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