Mazyr: Uladzimir Tseliapun asks prosecutor to check the legality of formation of election commissions
On 12 March Uladzimir Tseliapun, representative of the Homel oblast council of the Belarusian Popular Front Party, addressed V.Sushcheuski, prosecutor of the Mazyr district, with a complaint about a violation of the election law.
He stated that on 9 March the sitting of the Mazyr district executive committee on formation of precinct commissions took place. The sitting was attended by nine persons. Before the beginning of the sitting Veranika Baikova, Chairperson of the personnel work banned taking photos and recording anything on Dictaphone. She also warned the present representatives of the Belarusian Popular Front Party and the United Civil Party that discussion and asking questions during the sittings weren’t provided by the Election Code.
After this Baikova quickly read the general information about the number of representatives of civil organizations, political parties and working collectives in the precinct commissions. There’s was no discussion about the representation of political parties and civil associations in the precinct commissions. Being asked how the proposals of UCP and BPF on inclusion of members to the precinct commissions were taken into account, Veranika Baikova called only the surnames of two UCP members. L.Chornaya, chief editor of the local newspaper, stated that the decision of the district executive committee concerning the formation of the precinct commissions would be published on Saturday. However, according to Article 34, part 5 of the Election Code, ‘the decision of the bodies that established a commission can be appealed within three-day term since its adoption, at a district or an oblast court respectively, by the subjects who nominated their representatives to the commission’. As far as the decision was taken on 9 March, its publication on 13 March will deprive anyone of the possibility to appeal against it.
In his complaint Mr. Tseliapun asks the prosecutor to:
- determine whether the prohibitions to use photo camera and Dictaphone during the sitting of the commission at had any legal grounds and tell whether they met the requirements of Article 13, part 1 of the Election Code;
- estimate the legality of the procedure according to which representatives of the political parties and civil associations were chosen for inclusion in the commissions;
- find why representatives of opposition parties (BPF and UCP) weren’t included in the precinct election commission by members of the executive committee.
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