A. Lukashenko to decide on parliamentary election date by June 18
08/06/20120 views
On June 8, Minsk /BELTA/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will decide on the date of the parliamentary elections by June 18. The timing and preparation for the election campaign were discussed on June 8 during a working meeting of the head of state with the Chairperson of the Central Commission of the Republic of Belarus for Elections and National Referendums, Lidiya Yermoshina, BELTA was informed by the press service of the Belarusian leader.
The head of state was presented with proposals on the timing of the election campaign and the date of the election appointment. As Lidiya Yermoshina noted, according to the law, the elections of deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly must be held no later than September 23, and the elections of members of the Council of the Republic must take place before September 30. At the same time, if the elections to the House of Representatives are held on the same day and are unified throughout the country, then the members of the Council of the Republic are elected by deputies of local councils in the regions, and therefore their elections may take place on different days.
In the near future, draft decrees on the appointment of elections will be submitted to the President for consideration. The start of the election campaign will be marked by a meeting, to which the heads of the regions of Belarus, as well as the state bodies involved in conducting the elections, will be invited.
Alexander Lukashenko recalled that he had already expressed his opinion on holding the upcoming election campaign in his Address to the Belarusian people and parliament. He stressed that the elections should be held openly, freely, and in a competitive struggle. "I still believe that this year we should not adapt to anyone. You have already seen from our previous similar events that we will not receive gratitude for this. And we do not need "gratitude" from anyone. We need to focus on our own legislation and the Constitution," the head of state emphasized. "We are holding parliamentary elections, like others, for ourselves, for our state, and the people must determine in a fair and competitive struggle who will work in our parliament."
According to Lidia Yermoshina, the electoral legislation will not be changed ahead of the parliamentary elections, as, firstly, it is impossible due to time constraints, and secondly, this approach fully complies with the OSCE recommendations on the undesirability of reforms in this area within a year before the start of the election campaign. "In January 2010, amendments were made to the electoral legislation, which significantly democratized the electoral process in our country. This entire procedure was carried out in accordance with the OSCE recommendations," said the head of the Central Election Commission.
At the same time, Lidia Yermoshina stated that law enforcement practice has been significantly improved. The Central Election Commission has prepared the necessary documents – methodological explanations on the application of legislation for both precinct and district election commissions. Various resolutions have been adopted that regulate the procedure for nominating candidates for deputies and for the composition of election commissions.
In addition, the financing of the election campaign was discussed at the working meeting. In the event of two full-scale rounds, the election expenses will amount to Br93 billion. Br76 billion is planned for the first round.
A novelty of the current election campaign will be that candidates for deputies will have the opportunity to participate in debates, which can be organized both on television and radio. -0-
BELTA