CEC Chairwoman: Most likely date for 2015 presidential election in Belarus is November, 15
The most plausible date for the 2015 presidential election in Belarus is 15 November, Lidziya Yarmoshyna, Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC), told in an interview to the Belaruskaya Dumka magazine. There is no sense in intriguing about the election date, she added.
“The most likely date is 15 November 2015. It is the last possible Sunday for holding the election as the Constitution of the Republic says it should be held not later than two months before the expiry of the presidential powers (they are over on 21 January 2016). The date was brought to the attention of the head of state by the Central Election Commission and was preliminary approved by him as most likely. We see no point in weaving any intrigues here,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes Lidziya Yarmoshyna as saying.
Both political parties and independent candidates for the post of the president should be guided by this date, she said.
According to the top official, presidential elections in other countries are more often held in March and November as these months are “not connected to any national holidays, both religious and social.”
Lidziya Yarmoshyna has been Chairwoman of the CEC since 1996. She is a vocal supporter of Aliaksandr Lukashenka, the first and still the only President of the Republic of Belarus. On April 10, 2006, following the 2006 presidential election, she was placed on a list of Belarusians banned from entering the European Union and the United States for allegedly participating in election fraud.
The Chairwoman is notorious for her rude remarks. After the 2010 post-election protest action she harshly criticised Belarusian women: ”You’d better stay at home and cook borshch! Is there nothing better for you but to hang around the squares? This would never come to my mind. It is a shame for a woman to take part in such actions.”
