Yermoshina: OSCE is a shady undertaking for me
In her talk with the STV TV channel, the former chairperson of the Central Election Commission, Lidia Yermoshina, shared her view on the OSCE initiative, BelTA reports
Ms. Yermoshina stressed that the situation around the 2020 elections and the upcoming referendum are completely different election campaigns. "After all, in 2020, it was a struggle for power, for a change of power. At present, in 2022, this is naturally not a struggle for power or its change. If counteractions happen, they are simply aimed at preventing the current government from working. These are absolutely different things, different campaigns – technically and organisationally," she said.
As the former chairperson added, Belarus is an OSCE member. “The Bureau for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is an OSCE body that always came and observed our electoral processes, with the exception of 2020. For some reason, they then considered that our sending of invitations three weeks [before the elections] was too late. I fail to understand why they are asking for coming just a week [before the referendum]. In any case, this contradicts all the standards of this organisation that envisages the presence of long-term observers, the study of the complete preparatory process, and meeting with various political forces to ensure a full-fledged observation. Therefore, at the moment, this initiative looks like a shady undertaking for me,” Ms. Yermoshina noted.
