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Statement by the international observers of the Belarus and Russia Union
Parliamentary Assembly on results of observation of the elections to the
Third House of Representatives of the Republic of Belarus and the Republican
Referendum
On invitation from the National Assembly of the Republic of
Belarus 15 international observers of the Belarus and Russia Union
Parliamentary Assembly took part in he observation of the elections to the
Third House of Representatives of the Republic of Belarus and the Republican
Referendum on 17 October 2004.
The observers of the Parliamentary Assembly commenced their
activities on 7 October and monitored the process of preparation for the
election and the Referendum. Since the first day of early voting (12
October) and on the day of elections (17 October), they became acquainted
with the organization of the election process in all regions of Belarus and
in the city of Minsk.
The Mission of the international observers of the
Parliamentary Assembly note with satisfaction that in the Republic of
Belarus they had all conditions necessary for the implementation of their
activities. The observers were able to receive in a timely manner full
information on the activity of the Central Election Commission of the
Republic of Belarus on Election and Conduction of Republican Referenda
(CEC), territorial (TEC), district (DEC) and precinct (PEC) commissions,
free communication with the candidates and their proxies, representatives of
political parties and mass media, unimpeded access to PEC’s. During the
entire time of its work the Mission fulfilled its functions in an open,
detached and independent manner, fully consistent with the principle of
neutrality.
During their stay in Belarus the international observers of
the Parliamentary Assembly visited 304 PEC’s. They became acquainted on site
with the course of preparation for the election and the Referendum, the work
of TEC’s, DEC’s and PEC’s in time of early voting and on the day of
election, were present during the actual vote counting.
Based on results of the monitoring of the election and the
Referendum the observers of the Parliamentary Assembly state the following.
The law of the Republic of Belarus regulating the procedure
of conduction of the election and the Republican Referendum meets
international standards.
Commissions of all levels on elections and the Referendum
were established based on broad representation of political parties and
other public associations, labor collectives and individual citizens.
The registration process was done without serious violations,
several blunders of DEC’s were settled by the CEC in a timely manner.
On the day of election all PEC’s visited by the Parliamentary
Assembly observers were open on time. The voting process, according to the
observers, was well-organized in conformity with the national electoral law,
all conditions necessary for equal and free ballot self-determination of the
Belarusian people were fulfilled.
The elections to the House of Representatives of the National
Assembly were conducted in most cases on an alternative basis, there was a
wide representation of various socio-political groupings and population
strata among the candidates.
During the meetings with the observers a big number of voters
gave a positive evaluation of early voting – a norm stipulated by the
Electoral Code of the Republic of Belarus – which enjoyed the participation
of 17,39 per cent of voters.
Inviting and presence of 25,000 observers, including
approximately 700 international observers, at the Referendum and the
elections is a confirmation of transparency and democratic character of the
election process.
High turnout of voters at the election and the Republican
Referendum confirms big interest of the Belarusians to and their
responsibility for the future of their country.
The Parliamentary Assembly observers note that the election
and the Republican Referendum were conducted against the background of
unprecedented campaign of external pressure.
We consider harshly negative statements made by officials and
political figures of a number of European countries and the US with respect
to the Referendum in the Republic of Belarus and threats of taking
discriminative measures as an attempt of interfering in the internal affairs
of the sovereign nation and violation of widely accepted norms of the
international law.
The Parliamentary Assembly international observers consider
the election to the Third House of Representatives of the National Assembly
of the Republic of Belarus and the Republican Referendum as open, free,
democratic and legitimate.
18 October 2004
Minsk |
