Belarusian Parliamentary Elections in 2016: Lukashenka is against "obscure democracy"

Even though the CEC has yet to prepare proposals for the democratization of the electoral process based on the recommendations from human rights defenders.

The Chairperson of the Central Election Commission Lidzia Jarmoshyna said that the interdepartmental working group on the OSCE ODIHR recommendations made following the October 2015 presidential election has developed a series of proposal on measures to improve the electoral process.

"Each agency has developed its proposals taking into account their views on the legislation and taking into account the proposals that were put forward not only by the OSCE ODIHR, but also by the campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”. The final proposals for the democratization of the electoral process will be formulated by the Central Commission and submitted to the head of state" said the CEC head.

Jarmoshyna said that there were “five or six proposals”, and they “will have to be worked on now, before the parliamentary elections”, and will be implemented through CEC regulations. First of all, she said, these proposals relate to improving vote counting procedures, consideration of electoral disputes and the formation of election commissions.

In addition, some of the recommendations deal with changes to the electoral laws, which the CEC and the expert group will continue looking into after the parliamentary elections.

During the group’s work, representatives of the campaign "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections" twice petitioned the CEC head, first offering assistance to facilitate the work on the improvement of the electoral process, and then sending their detailed studies for the implementation of the OSCE ODIHR recommendations, which can increase the level of openness and transparency in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Lukashenka on the elections: There is no need to play some obscure democracy

Meanwhile, Aliaksandr Lukashenka has shared his vision of how the new parliament should be elected and operate. The head of the state pointed out that the present MPs should take an active part in the preparations for the forthcoming election campaign.

According to the President, the work with the population in the regions should be strengthened, as well as it is necessary to provide additional assistance to local authorities in solving the regional problems. Such measures should ensure that active, trained people make it to the new Parliament, which would be capable of solving the country’s socio-economic problems

Aliaksandr Lukashenka noted that the MPs are working for the state and in this case there is no need to "play some obscure democracy."

"The level of our responsibility is very high, because we are elected by people. They are the ones who judge us", he highlighted. Aliaksandr Lukashenka also expressed his satisfaction with the work of the present parliament. However, he added that he would do everything in order to ensure even more professional deputies would be elected to the parliament.

Belarusian HRH