Central Election Commission confirms that Mazyr DEC violated electoral legislation?

The Mazyr human rights defender Uladzimir Tseliapun received an answer to his complaint concerning the legality of the ruling of the Mazyr District Executive Committee concerning the establishment of the ‘working group’ that had in fact formed the lists of members of the precinct election commission sin the Mazyr district. The CEC Chairperson Lidziya Yarmoshyna admitted that some of the provisions of that ruling ‘don’t completely correspond to requirements of the electoral legislation’, but stated that the observer had no right to observe the actions of this ‘working group’.

In his complaint the human rights defender asked the CEC to assess the compatibility of ruling #1202 of the Mazyr DEC On the preparation and holding of the election of President of the Republic of Belarus by which the so called ‘working groups’ had been established from officers of the executive committee. Mr. Tseliapun believes that the working group was delegated the functions that belong to the competence of the Central Election Commission (preparation of training aids) and the district election commission (preparation of draft decisions and proposals for consideration by sittings of the commission, verification of the documents, complaints and statements of citizens that were presented to the commission).

’This ruling tells about the facilitation to the election commissions, but says nothing about the procedure of the choice of the personnel for these commissions and the discussion of the personal skills and qualities of the candidates for them,’ pointed Uladzimir Tseliapun in his complaint.

’The ruling has some provisions that don’t completely correspond to the electoral legislation. In this connection the Central Election Commission recommended the Mazyr District Executive Committee to put the ruling in line with the competence of the local executive organs that are determined by Article 24 of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Belarus’.

However, the answer doesn’t tell which provisions of the ruling ‘don’t completely correspond’ to the electoral legislation.

According to our information, such ‘working groups’ were established in many parts of the Homel region (for instance, in the town Yelsk). It means that the CEC needs to send the recommendations to put the appropriate rulings in line with the electoral legislation to all districts of the Homel region.

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections