Baranavichy District Executive Committee conceals information about the establishment of PECs

Baranavichy District Executive Committee conceals information about the electoral process. Such conclusion was made by a human rights activist Siarhei Housha who tried to get at least any information about the sitting of the executive committee for establishment of precinct election commissions appointed on February 3.

29 and 31 January the official newspaper of the Baranavichy DEC, "Nash Krai" did not give any information about the possible meeting of the DEC on February 3 on the formation of PECs. The official website of the Executive Committee had no information about the meeting on February 3 either.

Therefore, Mr. Housha decided to appeal to officers of the Executive Committee in order to obtain information about the time and place of the scheduled meeting. The activist talked on the phone with the staff of the ideological department and the secretary of the deputy chairman of the executive committee secretary. However, none of them knew anything about a possible meeting of the Executive Committee for establishing the PECs. All of them advised the human rights activist to phone to Siarhei Sliva, who was in charge of the electoral process. However, his working phone did not answer. Only at about 5 p.m. Siarhei Housha caught the official on the phone, but the latter blankly refused to inform him about the upcoming meeting.

After the conversation with the Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee Siarhei Housha found the information at the website of the Baranavichy DEC that 34 PECs had been established by regulation of the DEC No. 83 for February 3.

“It is possible that no meeting was held a t all. From my own experience I know that such meetings are often held in a few minutes. Therefore, the authorities do not need the presence of independent observers who can register violations of the law. Obviously, Baranavichy District Executive Committee fails to timely inform the voters and does not provide independent observers about the pace of the electoral process. I considered that thereby the Executive Committee violates Article 65 of the Constitution and Art. 13 of the Electoral Code, which states that the preparation and conduct of elections shall be open and transparent,” commented Siarhei Housha.

As it can be seen from the information available on the website of the executive committee, there are no representatives of democratic NGOs and parties in the PECs. As in previous elections, the commissions consist of representatives of Belarusian Republican Youth Union, “Belaya Rus”, the trade union of workers of agriculture, the veterans' union, the trade union of workers of state and other institutions and individuals nominated by citizens' applications.

"Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections"