State media during election campaign: expert opinion

Assessing the role of mass media in covering the election campaigns, Lidziya Yarmoshyna, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission, stated that ‘state mass media have the right to criticize opposition candidates during elections’, but ‘forgot’ to add that pro-governmental candidates also can be subject to similar critique with the aim of creating equal conditions for all candidates.

’State press should provide an equal opportunity to voice their views and address the public for all candidates irrespective of their political orientation. Journalists can express their views as well, but it doesn’t mean that mass media must be turned into a rostrum for besmearing the regime’s opponents, whereas in the contemporary Belarus the state media try to oppose the opposition candidates, which is ridiculous,’ commented the well-known political scientist Viktar Charnou.