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Central election commission dismisses calls for public discussion of its proposals for amending Electoral Code

 

The central election commission has dismissed a petition calling for a comprehensive public discussion of its proposals for amending the Electoral Code.

The petition was signed by the Belarusian Popular Front, the "Spravedlivy Mir" (Just World) Belarusian Party of the Left, the Hramada Belarusian Social Democratic Party, the Belarusian Party of the Greens, the "Tell the Truth!" movement, and the Movement for Freedom.

In her reply, Lidziya Yarmoshyna, head of the central election commission, says that initiating public discussions of draft ordinances and regulations is the prerogative of governmental agencies authorized to adopt ordinances and regulations.

As for sending the proposed amendments to the Electoral Code to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Venice Commission, Belarusian regulations do not stipulate that bills should be examined by these bodies, Mr. Yarmoshyna says.

In an interview with BelaPAN, Alyaksey Yanukevich, chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front, described Ms. Yarmoshyna's reply as predictable. "However, it was very important for us to express our views openly," he said. "Opposition forces have devised their own proposals for amending electoral regulations and will soon send them to authorities. Although we're under no illusion that the proposals will be accepted, it is essential that the Belarusian public and the international community learn about them."

In the petition, the six opposition groups questioned the central election commission's proposal that national-level NGOs with a membership of more than 1000 should be granted the right to nominate candidates for the House of Representatives and local soviets. Allowing NGOs to nominate candidates would be inconsistent with the Political Parties Law, which describe parties as a separate category of organizations that participate in elections and help citizens express their political will, the petition said.

The petitioners warned that abandoning the practice of providing public funds to candidates for printing their campaign material would turn elections into "a competition of private capital."

The proposal that campaigning for an election boycott should be governed by the Mass Events Law and not the Electoral Code is also unacceptable, the petition said. Parliamentary candidates should be allowed to express their views openly and voters should be able to learn as much as possible about the people on the ballot, the petitioners said.

The amendments proposed by the central election commission should be published and sent to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and also to the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters, the petition said. // BelaPAN