The current parliamentary campaign promises to operate on a larger scale than previously, with 630 people nominated as candidates for 110 seats in the House of Representatives (against 500 in 2012). The largest number (131 people) has been registered in Minsk. For each region, the number of nominees ranges from 79 to 89.
CEC Chair Lidia Yermoshina
Of course, after documents have been verified, some candidates may be required to drop out. Pre-election fervor is evident and the Chair of the Central Election Commission, Lidia Yermoshina, has told journalists that the election campaign will be lively, with high voter turnout expected.
Recently, Minsk hosted a meeting of the Central Election Commission, to consider a number of organisational issues. The Information Centre in the Palace of Republic will operate from the morning of September 11th until noon on September 12th, while the Chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, Andrei Bastunets, has joined the Supervisory Board, to monitor media compliance with the rules of election campaigning. Finally, the CEC-website will display information provided by candidates on their programmes.
Figures
Transparency in everything
Over 730 national, and more than 200 international, observers have been accredited to monitor the elections. The number of CIS observers has increased to 165 people. For the day of the election, the OSCE/ODIHR will bring 400 short-term observers.
Nomination of candidates to Council of the Republic in progress
In towns and districts across the Vitebsk Region, there have been joint meetings by presidiums of city and district councils of deputies and by corresponding executive committees. In accordance with legislation, nomination of candidates to senators has taken place. Nationwide nomination of candidates to the Council of the Republic will continue until August 19th. The elections of senators will run from August 25th until September 13th, at local council meetings in each region, and at the Minsk City Council of Deputies. The election results will be released no later than September 30th.
By Mikhail Orekhov
