GRODNO, 2 October (BelTA) – CIS observers are monitoring the formation of precinct election commissions in all the regions of the country, head of the CIS election observation mission Viktor Guminsky said as he visited the Grodno Oblast commission for the elections to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus on 2 October, BelTA has learned.
Grodno Oblast will number 669 precinct election commissions which will soon hold organizing meetings, elect chairpersons, their deputies, and secretaries.
“CIS long-term observers are monitoring the formation of precinct elections commissions in all the regions of the country and also getting familiar with the progress of the election campaign,” Viktor Guminsky said. CIS observers plan to visit district commissions in Grodno and a number of its districts.
The CIS election observation mission was deployed on 4 September. During the first stage of the election campaign CIS observers monitored the formation of the Minsk and Minsk Oblast election commissions, and also 37 district elections commissions in Minsk and Minsk Oblast. They also got familiar with the election campaign which is well underway in regions.
According to Viktor Guminsky, the CIS election observation mission will comprise about 400 observers (some 50 of them are long-term observers) that represent CIS states, the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Belarus-Russia Union State, and the CIS Executive Committee.
It is planned that the mission will make its final statement on the results of the elections on 18 November. “The activity of the CIS observers is based on the principles of political neutrality and non-interference in the electoral process and in the internal affairs of the state. The mission's assessments are based solely on the mission's own observation, as well as on official information and factual material provided by the election commissions,” said Viktor Guminsky.
In Grodno Oblast, 44 initiative groups have been registered in 13 district election commissions. As of 2 October, 11 sets of documents were submitted to the district election commissions.
