Orsha officials accused of manipulating public opinion

Orsha community is heating up around the proposed unification of the town and the district, after local executive authorities announced that they were going to examine citizens' opinions on the issue. After 28 days of “opinion polls”, the executive officials voiced stunning result – 22,600 residents of Orsha and nearly 6,000 more inhabitants of the district reportedly had one’s say. That is, on average, the officials received a thousand letters a day. The vast majority favored "the union."

Therefore, the leaders of member-organizations of the Coordinating Council of Democratic Forces of Orsha region adopted a special statement, which reads as follows:

"The figures reported by local authorities claiming that the discussion was contributed by over 28,000 inhabitants of both the town and the district is very questionable. It is unclear how such a survey was conducted, who implemented the accounting and calculation of results. Moreover, even if there has been a formal survey, its results cannot be considered valid without well-grounded arguments and proper consideration of the situation.

We urge Vitsebsk regional executive committee, Orsha town and district executive committees, and local councils of deputies to hold public hearings on the issue with experts on the state system and the economy, public associations, concerned citizens. It is in the course of this discussion, debate, identifying of pitfalls and ways to minimize them that the final decision on the unification of the town and the district should be taken."