Lidzija Jarmoshyna: Rural councils may disappear

The head of the Central Election Commission doesn’t deny the possibility that local councils in the countryside will be left in the past.

This may happen when the system of administrative divisions in Belarus begins to change, reports BelaPAN referring to the statement Lidzija Jarmoshyna made to the TV network Belarus One on Sunday. Whether or not rural councils should be preserved is a rather serious matter, as that it is very difficult to find candidates for seats in the soviets and ensure that they work despite having limited powers, she said.

According to Jarmoshyna, the Electoral Code may be amended to hold elections for the House of Representatives under a simple majority system.  “In a certain sense, this would be the acceptance of proposals by the OSCE, which suggests lowering the bar of voter turnout or removing it altogether,” stated the head of the Central Election Commission.

Let us recall that on January 31, Aliaksandr Lukashenka met with top government officials to discuss draft amendments to the Electoral Code. The head of state is to prepare the bill till May of this year. While in January the Central Election Commission dismissed a petition calling for a comprehensive public discussion of its proposed amendments to the Electoral Code.