IPA CIS Observers Meet With Leadership of National Assembly of Republic of Belarus

IPA CIS Observer Team headed by Coordinator, Chairman of the Committee of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Government and Northern Affairs Oleg Melnichenko held meetings with the Heads of both chambers of the Parliament – Speaker of the Council of the Republic, Member of the IPA CIS Council Natalya Kochanova and First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Valery Mitskevich.

Natalya Kochanova thanked the CIS MPs for finding a way under difficult epidemiological situation to come to Belarus and observe the elections. She informed the Team representatives that in total 248 international and about 50,000 national observers were working at the Presidential Elections in Belarus. The Speaker stressed that since the creation of the monitoring mechanism, the IPA CIS had created an effective legal framework in the organization and conduct of international election observation, as well as had gained solid experience. “We expect that your activities will result in an unbiased assessment of the ongoing processes. It is very important for us and for our people. We hope that your work in our country will be fruitful, successful and objective, as it has always been with our colleagues from the IPA CIS”, said Natalya Kochanova.

During the meeting with the observers, Deputy Speaker of the House Representatives Valery Mitskevich stressed that all conditions for holding the elections had been created in the Republic, and the Electoral Code of the Republic of Belarus met the requirements of international law, including the Convention on the Standards of Democratic Elections, Electoral Rights and Freedoms in the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States. He noted that the current election campaign demonstrated the growth of political activity, which indicated a mature position of the civil society of Belarus. In general, the campaign was proceeding smoothly, but at the same time, over 100 violations of the legislation related to holding of mass events had been registered, as well as more than 30 other offenses, including illegal actions against members of initiative groups and carrying out of journalistic activities without accreditation.

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives also noted that the elections in Belarus took place at the 75^th Anniversary of the Victory.

Observer Team Coordinator Oleg Melnichenko spoke about the structure of work of the IPA CIS international observers. He mentioned that the expert group had prepared and submitted to Belarusian colleagues a report on the compliance of the electoral legislation of the Republic of Belarus with the international standards. Oleg Melnichenko also stressed that the group was committed to fulfilling extensive work based on the principles of political neutrality, impartiality, and refusal to express any preferences.