Belarus Election Commission head refuses to participate in discussion on electoral law
The United Civic Party of Belarus is to hold the discussion ‘Elections As Condition For Positive Change’ on May, 25.
The opposition party invited representatives of the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the Legislation Committee of the House of Representatives to participate in the event .
UCP member and MP Hanna Kanapatskaya sent a special invitation to the CEC, and its chairperson Lidziya Yarmoshyna answered:
“Please be informed that the representatives of the Central Election Commission take part in discussions on proposals to make amendments to the electoral legislation in accordance with the instructions of the Head of State [Alyaksandr Lukashenka] as a subject of legislative initiative. As no instruction has been given, our participation does not seem possible.”
Chairman of the United Civic Party Anatol Lyabedzka made a comment on the situation:
“People, voters, MPs do not matter. There is only one person to decide who wins elections, where to go and what to say. Sheep graze upon a meadow under the care of a shepherd.”
Lidziya Yarmoshyna has been Head of the Central Election Commission of Belarus since December 1996, when Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed a decree dismissing the Chairman of the Central Election Commission Viktar Hanchar and appointed to this post Lidziya Yarmoshyna who had served as the head of the legal service of the Babruisk City Executive Committee. She had received legal education in Kaliningrad and worked there as an assistant district prosecutor.
After the Belarusian elections of 2006 and 2010, Yarmoshyna was banned from entering the EU for “involvement in the fraud”.
In February, the European Union lifted sanctions against Yarmoshyna and a number of other Belarusian officials.
