Lukashenka might initiate legislative on account of the OSCE and CIS proposals

The suggestions of OSCE and CIS concerning the amendment of the Electoral Code will be discussed at the conference with a possibility of their further consideration up to the introduction to the law.

Aliaksandr Lukashenka will hold a conference to discuss the main spheres of possible reforms before the autumn of 2013 when he is expected to exercise his right to initiate legislation, reports BelaPAN. It was stated by the secretary of the Central Election Commission Mikalai Lazavik.

The central election commission has already submitted its proposals for amending the Electoral Code to the head of the state, Lazavik said. They will be discussed during the conference together with proposals made in the final reports of the observation missions of the CIS and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights for Belarus from September 18-23 when Parliament elections took place, he said.

“Something will be approved and something won’t. After a decision is made, the National Center for Legislation and Legal Studies of the Presidential Administration will start devising a bill”, - commented the secretary of the Central Election Commission.

Let us recall that the Central Election Commission’s proposals for “modernizing” electoral regulations of Belarus submitted on December 3 were criticized by Belarusan opposition organizations. They questioned, among others, the commission’s proposals that national-level NGOs with a membership of more than 1000 should be granted the right to nominate candidates for the House of Representatives and local soviets, that the practice of providing public funds to candidates for printing their campaign material should be abandoned, and that campaigning for an election boycott should be governed by the Mass Events Law and not the Electoral Code.

Earlier this month, the central election commission dismissed a petition calling for a comprehensive public discussion of its proposed amendments to the Electoral Code.

Opposition organizations have submitted their own amendment proposals to the central election commission, but they are unlikely to be accepted.