IPA CIS Observers to Monitor Parliamentary Elections in Belarus

On 24 February IPA CIS international observers exchanged views on the progress of short-term monitoring at the elections to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus.

The meeting was opened by Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy, who introduced the coordinator of the group Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Konstantin Kosachev, and MPs of the Commonwealth countries took part in the monitoring.

The IPA CIS monitoring group included 44 people – deputies and senators, plenipotentiary representatives of the parliaments of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, as well as experts from the International Institute for Monitoring the Democracy Development, Parliamentarism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations (IPA CIS IIMDD). Deputy Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat – Director of the IPA CIS IIMDD Ivan Mushket introduced the audience to the conclusions of the Institute’s experts who analyzed the electoral legislation of the Republic of Belarus and concluded that it complies with international standards for democratic elections.

On 25 February voting opened in Belarus for the elections of deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus and local Councils of Deputies. Voting was monitored by a group of the IPA CIS international observers.

In single-mandate constituencies 110 deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus and 12514 deputies of local Councils of Deputies are elected for five years.

263 candidates are vying for deputy mandates in the lower House of Parliament. According to the Central Election Commission, 41.7% of citizens included in the voting lists voted early in the elections.

The IPA CIS international observers monitored parliamentary elections at 127 polling stations in Belarus.

According to the Central Election Commission of Belarus, the turnout of citizens in the elections of deputies on a single voting day amounted to 72,98% of the total number included in the voting lists.

The group included representatives of all legislative bodies of the Commonwealth countries that are members of the Interparliamentary Assembly, as well as experts from the IPA CIS IIMDD. The work was coordinated by Konstantin Kosachev.

The conclusions of the IPA CIS international observers will be presented after the preliminary election results are announced.