CEC Chairman named four points that enable Belarus to ensure its electoral sovereignty

Virtually any Presidential election campaign in sovereign Belarus faced attempts of destructive interference from the outside – as stated by Chairman of the Central Election Commission Igor Karpenko at the recently held seminar on the topic of election campaign organisation

Electoral sovereignty is the essential right of the state to independently hold elections and referenda in accordance with the Constitution and acting legislation, exclusively in the interests of the state and the people, and the prevention of any interference. Mr. Karpenko explained, “If we look back to the 1990s when Belarus gained sovereignty and independence, we can see that virtually no Presidential election campaign in the country was calm. In this regard, we have outlined four main directions that enable us to ensure electoral sovereignty.”

According to the CEC Chairman, these are the following:

Direction one: to create an effective barrier to external interference in electoral processes – informational, financial, legal, organisational, and technical.

Direction two: to prevent the use of official powers of the chosen person contrary to national and state interests.

Direction three: to ensure safety of the electoral process participants.

Direction four: to work on the international scales over the development of standards for evaluating elections.

Based on this, the role of international observers is determined. Mr. Karpenko noted, “It is very simple: to observe how everything is procedurally organised. An observer is to conclude whether the electoral process goes in line with the current national legislation. If it fails, then the observer is to explain what violations are likely, and what aspects should be paid attention to.”

Mr. Karpenko emphasised the main point, “The observer must respect the country’s sovereignty!”