Posted:
05.03.2024 15:18:00
Single Voting Day: main results and trends
The Single Voting Day has been held for the first time in the history of Belarus. The authorised deputies of the House of Representatives of the Belarus’ National Assembly of the eighth convocation and the local Councils of deputies of the 29th convocation have been elected. The Central Election Commission established the official results of the elections on March 1st at its meeting. Sovereign and independent Belarus has opened a new page in its state-building.
The President of Belarus,
Aleksandr Lukashenko,
“The role of Parliament will increase every month,
every year. We are already transferring some powers to the Parliament and other authorities.
There is a certain restructuring going on,
generations are changing. This is a very serious event, especially at the time when our government is going through modernisation. We may be criticised for somewhat weak modernisation. But we have always said that all processes everywhere should
be evolutionary in nature. If we take drastic approaches— it is also possible — then this is a way of revolution. Belarus and Russia have already exhausted the limit of revolutions. What could this lead to? To the situation similar to that in Ukraine.
It also reached its limit, but they still tried again in 2014–2015 through the Maidan coup. That is what those sharp turns led to. Therefore, we are calmly moving forward when modernising our system.”
After voting in the elections of deputies to the House of Representatives and local Councils of deputies,
on February 25th, 2024.
Aleksandr Lukashenko,
“The role of Parliament will increase every month,
every year. We are already transferring some powers to the Parliament and other authorities.
There is a certain restructuring going on,
generations are changing. This is a very serious event, especially at the time when our government is going through modernisation. We may be criticised for somewhat weak modernisation. But we have always said that all processes everywhere should
be evolutionary in nature. If we take drastic approaches— it is also possible — then this is a way of revolution. Belarus and Russia have already exhausted the limit of revolutions. What could this lead to? To the situation similar to that in Ukraine.
It also reached its limit, but they still tried again in 2014–2015 through the Maidan coup. That is what those sharp turns led to. Therefore, we are calmly moving forward when modernising our system.”
After voting in the elections of deputies to the House of Representatives and local Councils of deputies,
on February 25th, 2024.
Figures of scale and competition
The five days of early voting and the main Single Voting Day on February 25th were preceded by huge and multifaceted work involving thousands of people. There were formed 1,284 territorial, 110 district and 5,411 precinct election commissions.There were initially nominated 298 candidates to run for 110 deputy seats in the House of Representatives, of which 265 citizens were subsequently registered as candidates for deputies — 25 candidates were refused registration by district election commissions, and eight people withdrew their applications. Two more registered candidates
withdrew their candidacy later. Thus, 263 candidates for deputies participated in the elections to the House of
Representatives, more than three quarters of whom are members of political parties. The competition in the elections was high.
There were nominated 18,999 candidates to local Councils of deputies, of which 18,802 citizens successfully passed the verification and registration funnel. There were registered 119 refusals to nominate persons seeking to register as candidates for deputies, and 78 more citizens withdrew their applications.
The voter turnout was already evident during the early voting period held from February 20th to February 24th —
as many as 56.43 percent of citizens included in voting lists cast their votes.
The Central Election Commission plans to convene the first session of the House of Representatives of the eighth convocation on March 22nd.
Open to the truth, closed to lie
The voting process was monitored by 45,505 national and 294 international observers, of which 238 observers represented the CIS Observer Mission; 11 were accredited from the central election authorities of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan; and 22 — from the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation.Twenty-three politicians, deputies, and public figures from Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Lebanon, Poland, Serbia, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and Iran were also accredited as international observers. They acted
as independent experts.
In contrast, observers from the notorious OSCE ODIHR did not receive an invitation to the Belarusian elections, in relation to which the organisation representatives expressed their hypocritical ‘deeply regrettable’ attitude on their websites. However, CIS Secretary General and Head of the CIS Observer Mission Sergei Lebedev fully approved
of Minsk’s decision, “Western observers have a biased approach even before arriving in the country to observe the elections. As a rule, this does not lead to anything good. The characteristics and conclusions, the statements that they announce following the results of the elections are always imbued with an incompetent approach to monitoring. This is especially pronounced in relation to the CIS countries. As the head of the mission, I can say that we support Belarus’ decision to refrain from inviting OSCE observers to the parliamentary elections. Their presence would create tension.”
Legitimate and democratic: observers’ assessments
The CIS Observer Mission concluded that the elections in Belarus were conducted in full compliance with the Constitution and the Electoral Code of Belarus, openly and publicly. They were held on alternative choice basis, and proved to be transparent, fair, and consistent with the principles of democratic elections. They ensured the free expression of the will of Belarusian citizens. This was announced by the Head of the CIS Observer Mission, CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev, “Our assessment of these elections is as follows — they were carried out in an organised and proper manner, without violations. We have not recorded any violations that could affect the election results.”Voting in the elections in Belarus took place in a calm and friendly atmosphere, as emphasised by the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation Observer Mission. The Head of the Mission, SCO Deputy Secretary General Nurlan Yermekbayev noted,
“The mission came to the conclusion that the elections marked an important step towards further political development of Belarus. The mission has acknowledged that the elections complied with the requirements of the electoral legislation of Belarus and the international obligations assumed by the Republic. The mission did not note any violations of the norms of national legislation that might cast doubt on the legitimacy of the elections. The mission recognises the elections as transparent, legitimate and democratic.”
DIRECT SPEECH
Vadim Borovik, political analyst,“A new, responsible stage in the life of our country is coming. Taking into account the existing challenges, we have made adjustments to our legislation, as well as to the directions of foreign and domestic policy. This does not mean that we have closed any vectors on our own initiative. As a sovereign Central European state with an open exportoriented economy, we need to maintain a balance of interests, and have partners in various parts of the world, especially in matters of foreign trade. We need to rely on different centres of power. We should remain loyal
to our strategic allies — Russia and China, but at the same time remember that, no matter what alliances we join, no matter what unions we make part of, all this is aimed at strengthening the sovereignty of Belarus.”
By Maksim Osipov
