English

CIS election observation mission is always open and ready for dialogue, observer says

The observation mission of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) for Belarus’ parliamentary elections is always open and ready for dialogue, Yevgeny Sloboda, a member of the mission, told reporters in Minsk on Monday when asked by a BelaPAN correspondent whether the mission’s members would meet with observers representing the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC).

In a letter sent to the mission on August 23 and addressed to its head, Sergei Lebedev, the BHC proposed a meeting to discuss the observation process.

“I’m not aware of that letter,” Mr. Sloboda said, adding that he had talked to a BHC observer in one of the electoral districts in Minsk and the observer had not raised any problems.

BHC leader Aleh Hulak told reporters on the same day that CIS observers had refused to meet with BHC representatives during a presidential election in 2010, adding that OSCE observers had always accepted invitations to meet with BHC members.

“We are open for contact with all observers, both international and domestic ones,” Mr. Hulak said. “I want to note that each of our election observation results in releasing a final report. The Belarusian National Youth Union and Belaya Rus also always have many election observers, but nobody has ever seen any reports on their work.” //BelaPAN