Antonio Milošoski: Central Election Commission appointed by opposition


Head of the observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has told journalists about a tenuous agitation process in Belarus and features of election campaigns in his country.
According to the official, Belarus’ parliamentary campaign is going “at very low key,” considering that the House of Representatives elections are just two weeks away.
An interim report will be available on September, 13
Since the arrival of the first group of OSCE/ODIHR observers on August 21, the observation mission has established a constant contact with Belarus’ central election commission, foreign and information ministries, Supreme Court and other interested agencies, Mr. Milošoski said.
The mission receives quite a lot of information, but it comes from not only government sources but also from political parties, non-governmental organizations, journalists, and some parliamentary candidates, he said. From the very beginning, the mission has monitored the Belarusian media, Mr. Milošoski noted.
On September 13, the mission will publish its interim report, which will deal with all aspects of the election campaign, including legal and media issues and candidate registration, he said.
When asked about the distinguishing features of Belarusian elections, Mr. Milošoski said that every country had its own electoral regulations and attitude toward elections.
Parliamentary candidates in Macedonia have unlimited access to the media
According to Mr. Milošoski, in his home country, Macedonia, the head of the central election commission is appointed by its largest opposition party with the consent of the parliament.
In addition, candidates in Macedonia have unlimited access to the media, he said.
The central election commission has promised to provide the observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) with a “substantial and real opportunity” to monitor the vote count, the mission’s head told reporters.
Mr. Milošoski said that while meeting with the central election commission, OSCE/ODIHR observers had raised the issue of denials of access to the ballot for parliamentary hopefuls. The observers made no distinction between opposition and pro-government hopefuls but simply pointed out that very little time had been given for contenders to remedy flaws in their papers, he said.
Belsat
TWITTER