Belarus' CEC: No blind eye to violations of election laws

Belarus' CEC: No blind eye to violations of election laws

MINSK, 1 November (BelTA) The Central Election Commission of Belarus is not going to turn a blind eye to violations of election laws during the collection of signatures, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Lidia Yermoshina told media on 1 November.

Asked whether the liberal approach that the Central Election Commission showed during the collection of signatures will stay in place for the registration of candidates, Lidia Yermoshina said that the approach will be first and foremost legal. "Nobody will be accused of something unjustly. But we will not turn a blind eye to deception. Everything will be examined for compliance with the law," she stressed.

Lidia Yermoshina said it was possible that this year's presidential election may include the largest number of candidates on record.

Speaking about the election campaign progress, the official said that it was going well without any major violations. Since the election campaign started, the CEC has received 210 applications primarily asking for an explanation about various aspects of the operation of initiative groups. Local authorities have received 86 applications from citizens requesting information about the establishment of commissions and the operation of initiative groups. Belarusian courts have received 27 complaints regarding the establishment of territorial election commissions.

Lidia Yermoshina spoke in glowing terms about the operation of law enforcement agencies that kept law and order during the collection of signatures. She said that the Interior Ministry "did a hell of a job", often resolving the conflicts that collectors of signatures ran into on the spot.

The CEC head also spoke about discussions regarding televised debates between presidential candidates. The latest mass media reports have been discussing whether recorded debates are a good thing. Lidia Yermoshina stressed that no candidates had complained about televised debates although some of them had requested the Central Election Commission to address minor issues regarding air time and press space allocation in mass media for the sake of campaigning. She believes that future candidates are satisfied with the regulations on televised debates.

Scheduled for 5 November, the next session of the Central Election Commission of Belarus is supposed to consider proposals of groups of citizens, including potential candidates, for the Central Election Commission to adopt several CEC resolutions that these citizens have worked out.

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