Belarus will eventually move to parliamentary elections based on party lists - Ermoshina

Lidiya Yarmoshyna advocates for parliamentary elections based on party lists. She shared this view on the "Kontury" program on ONT TV channel, as reported by BELTA.

"I am generally in favour. I believe that since the whole world is moving towards granting special preferences to political parties, we cannot be the smartest and the ultimate truth here," said Lidiya Yarmoshyna. Speaking about the readiness of political parties for the introduction of a proportional system, the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission expressed the opinion that they will never be ready for it if they do not have the opportunity to gain seats in parliament. "People do not join parties, their ranks are dwindling, and if the membership is very small, there is no intellectual selection, no selection of the best – those who will enter parliament," she added. "Only by moving into the elite can parties increase their membership and gain interesting and worthy politicians."

"I believe that we will transition (to parliamentary elections based on party lists. – Ed. BELTA) someday, although I don't know when. This is primarily the political will of the legislators," noted the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission. "It will never come from below." According to her, the voter does not welcome such a system, preferring to deal with a specific person, a deputy, whom they can approach with their troubles and problems. "Therefore, either the state, in the person of the legislator, consciously takes this risk, studying international experience and setting the prospect of political party development for itself, or it leaves everything as it is, as the voter wishes," added Lidiya Yarmoshyna.

Answering the question about when the election campaign for parliament will begin, the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission reported that the draft documents currently include the election dates for the Council of the Republic on November 7 and for the House of Representatives on November 17. A meeting of the Central Election Commission is scheduled for August 6 to approve the calendar plan of events. "As for constitutional changes, they are unlikely to be expected, because neither in the Central Commission nor in relation to other state bodies have I seen any formulated proposals that would form the basis for constitutional transformations," she remarked.

According to Lidia Yermoshina, those who facilitate the nomination of candidates, public associations, and authorities should prioritize the nomination of local council deputies to parliament. "The whole world is following this path: first, you work at the grassroots level, then you get into parliament. I think that people who have worked at the local level, at the regional level, at the Minsk city level – these are already ready-made parliament deputies," added the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission.

As reported, on July 30, during a meeting with the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Lidia Yermoshina proposed holding elections to the Council of the Republic on November 7, and to the House of Representatives on November 17.

News of Belarus (BELTA)