Central Commission dismisses a petition that calls for alternation of Electoral Code

In this petition, six opposition groups – the Belarusan Popular Front, the "Spravedlivy Mir" (Just World) Belarusan Party of the Left, the Hramada Belarusan Social Democratic Party, the Belarusan Party of the Greens, the "Tell the Truth!" movement, and the Movement for Freedom – disputed the suggestion made by the Central Commission of the Republic of Belarus on Elections as to grant the right to nominate candidates for the House of Representatives and local councils national-level NGOs with a membership of 1000, reports BelaPAN. Providing NGOs with this right is inconsistent with the Political Parties Law which describes parties as a separate category of organizations that participate in elections and help citizens express their political will, the petition said.

The petitioners warned that abandoning the practice of providing public funds to candidates for printing their campaign material would turn elections into "a competition of private capital."

The proposal that campaigning for an election boycott should be governed by the Mass Events Law and not the Electoral Code is also unacceptable, the petition highlights. According to the petition, parliamentary candidates should be allowed to express their views openly and voters should be able to learn as much as possible about the people on the ballot.

The amendments proposed by the Central Commission should be published and sent to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and also to the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters, the petition said.

In response to the petition, Lidzija Jarmoshyna, head of the Central Commission of the Republic of Belarus on Elections, says that initiating public discussions of draft ordinances and regulations is the prerogative of governmental agencies authorized to adopt ordinances and regulations.

As for sending the proposed amendments to the Electoral Code to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Venice Commission, Belarusan regulations do not stipulate that bills should be examined by these bodies, Jarmoshyna is convinced.