OSCE: It remains to be seen how, in practice, the declarations made by CEC will translate into actio

The Central Election Commission (CEC) stated that it would improve the formation of election commissions, the review of election disputes, and the vote count procedure at the parliamentary elections.

Kent Harstedt (MP, Sweden), Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Chair of its Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, had a mixed reaction to the statement of Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Jarmoshyna following the press conference with the head of state on 27 April.

“The Belarusian government has taken a positive step in agreeing to implement some of the OSCE/ODIHR’s recommendations made after recent election observations in the country. I however regret that long overdue changes to the electoral law are not foreseen in the coming months,” the press service of OSCE quotes Harstedt.

“It remains to be seen how, in practice, the declarations made by the highest level of the electoral administration will translate into action in light of the upcoming parliamentary elections,” he added.

Let us recall that the CEC declared that it would improve three important procedures, namely the formation of election commissions, the review of election disputes and the vote count procedure for the election campaign leading to the elections expected in September.

OSCE observers have repeatedly assessed, including during the observation of the 2015 presidential election and of the 2012 parliamentary elections, that the legal framework is not adequately guaranteeing the conduct of elections in line with OSCE commitments.