IPA CIS Observers Held Number of Meetings Within Framework of Monitoring Parliamentary Election in Belarus

On 23 February, the IPA CIS observers held a number of meetings with representatives of the parties of the Republic of Belarus. Features of the current electoral campaign, the work of the election administration bodies, and the interaction of political forces during preparation for the voting were discussed.

The Republican Labor and Justice Party noted good preparation of the election commissions for a single voting day.

The IPA CIS international observers met in Minsk with Chair of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice Alexander Khizhnyak, which nominated candidates for the parliamentary elections in Belarus. He mentioned that the single voting day is an innovation for Belarus. Also, the Chair of the party told about the work carried out to inform young people about the election campaign.

Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus: the electoral campaign is stress-free.

Deputy Chair of the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus Oleg Chesalov, at a meeting with the IPA CIS international observers, positively assessed the reduction in the number of parties to stabilize political processes.

Oleg Chesalov emphasized the feedback from the CEC – the commission managed to establish clear and full information about the election participants.

The representative of the party expressed gratitude to the IPA CIS observers for their objective monitoring. In his opinion, the decision not to invite the OSCE observers to the elections in Belarus is due to the bias of their assessments.

The Communist Party of Belarus relied on young candidates.

The IPA CIS international observers met with the leadership of the Communist Party of Belarus (CPB). First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPB Alexey Sokol praised the work of the CEC and positively assessed the organization of dialogue platforms for election participants.

Also he considers the competition in the elections high, given the rapid popularity of one of the new parties.

Representatives of Belaya Rus speak about the transparency and openness of electoral legislation in Belarus.

The IPA CIS observers held the meeting with the leadership of the Belarussian party Belaya Rus. Representatives of Belaya Rus introduced the observers to their program. The party was actively involved in campaigning work, focusing on meetings with labor collectives.

Deputy Chair of the party Andrey Basak highly appreciated the work of the CEC and the legislation on elections in Belarus open and transparent. He also gave a positive assessment of the joint work with other parties and public associations at the Headquarters of the Patriotic Forces of the Republic of Belarus.

On 24 February, IPA CIS observers met with Speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Andreychenko. Mr. Andreychenko thanked the heads of parliaments who sent MPs to monitor the elections in Belarus. He noted the experience and objectivity of the IPA CIS observers.

The coordinator of the group, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Konstantin Kosachev thanked the Speaker of the lower house of the Belarusian parliament for inviting the IPA CIS international observers to take part in the observation of the parliamentary elections.

Konstantin Kosachev handed over the expert opinion and report on long-term monitoring of the preparation of elections in Belarus to Vladimir Andreychenko.

At the end of the meeting, Konstantin Kosachev presented Vladimir Andreychenko with a certificate of honor signed by Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council Valentina Matviyenko for his active participation in the activities of the IPA CIS and contribution to the development of friendship between the peoples of the CIS countries.