Lebedev: CIS observer mission for 2024 elections will include about 150 people

The CIS observer mission for the 2024 elections has actually started its work – as stated by Head of the CIS observer mission, CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev, speaking with journalists after a meeting with Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Igor Karpenko

The CIS Secretary General noted that today, foreign countries sometimes make demands on Belarus and other CIS members or make critical assessments and comments about the alleged non-compliance of election campaigns in our countries with certain international standards of electoral law.

In this regard, Sergei Lebedev noted, “Who drew up these standards? They are not stipulated on paper! But they are used, especially by Western observers, to present any critical demands and assessments. We have repeatedly proposed our Western colleagues to develop uniform standards for monitoring elections in order to avoid double standards. But they are moving away from this and have not responded to our proposal. This biased attitude towards the conduct of elections on the part of Western observers, in my opinion, justifies the decision of the Belarusian leadership not to invite Western observers: we will not receive an objective assessment from them. Citizens of Belarus especially felt this in 2020: observation by the OSCE/ODIHR and some other Western structures was used only to interfere in Belarus’ internal affairs. Therefore, I understand the decision of the leadership of Belarus.”

Speaking about the CIS observer mission, Sergei Lebedev said, “It has already started work. Today, with a meeting at the CEC, we simply marked the official start of this mission’s work. The mission headquarters has started working today at the CIS Executive Committee. We anticipate that it will consist of approximately 50 long-term observers. Our mission will include parliamentarians of the CIS countries, diplomats of the CIS members accredited in Belarus, employees of the CIS Executive Committee, members of the CIS central election commissions. These are experienced and worthy people who have taken part in observation more than once, so we fully rely on the objectivity of their assessments. A day or two before the elections, short-term observers will arrive in Belarus and will work for two or three days. In total, we expect that the CIS observer mission will include about 150 people.”