The Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) will not observe the presidential election in Belarus, since it did not receive an invitation from Minsk and does not consider it possible to send its representatives to the republic due to the coronavirus pandemic, CEC head Ella Pamfilova told Sputnik on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2020) The Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) will not observe the presidential election in Belarus, since it did not receive an invitation from Minsk and does not consider it possible to send its representatives to the republic due to the coronavirus pandemic, CEC head Ella Pamfilova told Sputnik on Wednesday.
"The Russian CEC did not receive the traditional official invitation from its Belarusian colleagues [to observe the election]," Pamfilova said.
The official also said that Russian observers would not attend the event as part of the missions of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
According to Pamfilova, the (ODIHR) received an invitation from the Belarusian side too late. As for the CIS, the CEC does not consider it possible to send its representatives to Belarus, given, "to put it mildly, the very specific attitude of the Belarusian leadership to the coronavirus pandemic," the head added.
The presidential election in Belarus is scheduled for August 9. Five people are registered as candidates, including the current head of state, Alexander Lukashenko. The campaigning started on July 14 and will last until August 8. Early voting began in the republic on Tuesday.
