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OSCE/ODIHR experts staying in Minsk

A delegation of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) arrived in Minsk on March 5.

The delegation consists of senior election advisor Tatyana Bogussevich and election advisor Lusine Badalyan.

On Tuesday, the delegation was scheduled to meet with leaders of the Belarusian Association of Journalists.

On Wednesday, Mses. Bogussevich and Badalyan will meet with representatives of the central election commission to discuss the September 2012 parliamentary elections in Belarus and proposals of the OSCE/ODIHR experts who observed the poll, Mikalay Lazavik, secretary of the central election commission, told BelaPAN.

Also on Wednesday, the delegation will meet with Alyaksandr Zazulya, chairman of the House of Representatives' standing Committee on State System Building and Local Self-government. Under discussion will be ways of improving the country's electoral regulations, according to the press office of the lower parliamentary chamber.

On March 7, the delegation is scheduled to meet with representatives of Belarusian political parties, Anatol Lyabedzka, chairman of the United Civic Party, told BelaPAN.

On December 3, 2012, the central election commission submitted a number of proposals for "modernizing" Belarus' electoral regulations to Alyaksandr Lukashenka. They drew fire from Belarusian opposition organizations, which questioned, among others, the proposals 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, that the practice of providing public funds to candidates for printing their campaign material should be abandoned, and that campaigning for an election boycott should be governed by the Mass Events Law and not the Electoral Code.

At the beginning of January, the central election commission dismissed a petition calling for a comprehensive public discussion of its proposed amendments to the Electoral Code. The petitioners demanded that the amendments be 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.

Speaking during a government conference on January 31, Mr. Lukashenka directed that a bill of amendments to the Electoral Code should be ready in May.

He said that it was necessary to consider the recommendations contained in the final report of the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission for the September 2012 parliamentary elections.

Widespread reports of election frauds prompted international observers to declare undem ocratic all parliamentary and presidential elections held in Belarus in the last 17 years, including September's parliamentary poll.