OSCE/ODIHR Head of Mission in Belarus praises conditions for election observers

At a press conference after a meeting with Sergei Gaidukevich, Secretary of the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP), Deputy of the House of Representatives, Gert Arens, Head of OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission, praised the conditions that Belarus created for election observers.

“I was fully satisfied with the conditions created in Belarus for the international observers. We received an invitation to partake in the parliamentary elections observation in time. We had problems neither with visas nor with other technicalities,” Gert Arens said. The Head of the Mission stated that he had an opportunity to hold high-ranking level meetings in the Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus and with top officials of the Foreign Ministry. Agreements were reached to hold meeting between the mission officials and representatives of the Central Election Commission and the Foreign Ministry every Thursday. The Head of Mission informed that he has also had meetings with the leaders of the Belarusian political parties.

At the same time Gert Arens expressed regret over the low activity of the political parties in the course of the ongoing election campaign including the LDP. “In comparison with other countries the political parties in Belarus play a little role. This is possibly due to the historical development of the society. Yet it does not mean that the political parties should not influence the election processes,” he said.

The OSCE/ODIHR mission includes 50 long-term observers. They are now monitoring the election campaign in different regions of the country.

Another important stage of the parliamentary campaign, namely the registration of the candidates to the deputies, will be over on August 28. The candidates will be registered during the sessions of the district election commissions which can be attended by international observers.

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