Vladimir Chourov: “Election process is at the same time the strongest and the weakest point of any democracy”

The Conference on election processes in Minsk is in full swing. The list of speakers includes recognized experts in the field. Vladimir Chourov, Chairman of the Russian CEC, spoke on current democratic realities. “People’s will is the source of authority and strength of any government. Yet, it is also its weakest point when it comes to the complexities of election procedure. Under certain scenarios, those complexities can be exploited by politicians to rig elections”, he said. He also expressed the willingness to cooperate and share best practices with the CECs of the CIS Member States, welcomed the growing number of ratifications of the CIS Convention on Election Standards and the work of the IPA CIS to improve legal framework of elections and promote observation standards and international best practices across the CIS.

The Conference also heard informative speeches by Zhanna Ivanova, Member, IPA CIS PC on Practices of State-Building and Local Governance, Member, Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Governance and State-Building, and Sadullo Ziyoratsho, member of the lower chamber of the Parliament of the Republic of Tajikistan.