Belarus Election Commission Not Ruling Out Presidential Election With No Int'l Observers

Belarus Election Commission Not Ruling Out Presidential Election With No Int'l Observers

The Belarusian Central Election Commission (CEC) is not ruling out that the presidential election, scheduled for August 9, may be held in absence of international observers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, chairwoman Lidia Yermoshina told Sputnik in an interview

MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) The Belarusian Central Election Commission (CEC) is not ruling out that the presidential election, scheduled for August 9, may be held in absence of international observers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, chairwoman Lidia Yermoshina told Sputnik in an interview.

Earlier this week, the head of the Belarusian lower house's international affairs commission, Andrey Savinykh, said that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) had already reported it would not send observers to Belarus due to the epidemiological situation.

"Yes, there are some questions [regarding foreign observers]. Suffice to say, the presidential election in Poland was held with just nine OSCE observers, I believe only due to the fact that the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights' headquarters are located in Warsaw. So, this is quite likely," Yermoshina said, when asked if she was ruling out complete absence of foreign monitors at the vote due to the coronavirus and related border closures.

The CEC head admitted she had never organized elections in similar conditions, since many international observers usually come to Belarus.