Amendments to Electoral Code to be passed by illegitimate “chamber”

The chairman of the Central Election Committee Lidziya Yarmoshyna has informed that the “chamber of representatives” is to consider the proposed amendments of the electoral legislation.

Yarmoshyna reminded that after the “parliamentary elections” in September 2008 an agreement was reached between the OSCE and Belarus to estimate the Belarusian electoral legislation together and formulate proposals for its changing. The National lawmaking centre is engaged in that in Belarus, and it included the CEC experts.

At the moment “legislative innovations” are studied by the agencies of Belarus which interests would be touched upon, when the laws would be changed, the head of the CEC said.

Yarmoshyna expressed interest in the evaluation of the OSCE experts, in order for the proposals “not to attract criticism from the start” by this organisation. “Why we should change the law in a way that during the next election campaign experts or OSCE observers would come and criticize it again,” the chair of the CEC said.

However she reminded that to change the law “the opinion of the OSCE is not needed”.

The CEC chair hasn’t defined exactly the concrete offers before “the final draft agreed with the Belarusian agencies and the OSCE would appear”.

In its turn, in an interview to the BelaPAN the spokesperson of the ODIHR OSCE Jens-Hagen Eschenbaecher stated that the bureau is waiting for the draft of the Belarusian authorities in order to assess “possible improvements of the electoral system of Belarus from the point of view of the commitments to the OSCE”.

Eschenbaecher stated that the sides are discussing possible changes to the Electoral Code of Belarus based upon the final report of the ODIHR OSCE summing up the results of the “parliamentary elections” in 2008. As said by the ODIHR OSCE spokesperson, the ODIHR OSCE “has made it clear that it [the process of reforming the Belarusian electoral code] should include all interested sides, which are taking part in the election, -- the government, political parties and the civil society”.

As we have informed, the ODIHR OSCE in its report on the “parliamentary elections” in Belarus in autumn 2008 stated that the elections “didn’t meet the OSCE standards”.

During the parliamentary elections none of the opposition representatives entered the new “chamber of representatives”.

In particular, the ODIHR OSCE representatives believe the electoral code of Belarus does not give a possibility for a true political competition and equal treatment of candidates by the authorities.

As experts underline, the Belarusian law is still hindering holding free election in line with democracy standards.

Experts note the Electoral Code of Belarus “does not provide any clear mechanism for securely keeping the ballot boxes after the start of early voting, nor does it provide specific regulations for enhancing the integrity of the ballot”. Most opposition nominees were denied registration “for minor breaches of formal requirements,” the report underlines. According to experts of the mission, it creates conditions for falsification.

As we have informed, all elections held in Belarus under the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, were recognized as not free and not fair by the world community. The head of the CEC Lidziya Yarmoshyna was banned entry to the EU countries and the United States for rigging election results.