8 June, Minsk /BELTA/. The upcoming parliamentary elections in Belarus should be held openly, freely, and competitively. This was stated on June 8 by the Head of State Alexander Lukashenko during a working meeting with the Chairperson of the Central Commission of the Republic of Belarus for Elections and Republican Referendums Lidia Ermoshina, BELTA was informed by the press service of the Belarusian leader. 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 competitively. "I still believe that we should not adapt to anyone this year. You have already seen from our previous similar events that we will not receive any gratitude for this. And we don't need 'gratitude' from anyone. We need to focus on our own legislation and Constitution," the Head of State emphasized. "We are holding parliamentary elections, like others, for ourselves, for our state, and the people should determine in a fair and competitive struggle who will work in our parliament." According to Lidia Ermoshina, the electoral legislation will not be changed in the run-up to the parliamentary elections, because, firstly, it is impossible due to the deadlines, and secondly, such an 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 Chairperson of the Central Election Commission. -0-

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