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Belarus committed to free election campaigns

21.11.2014

MINSK, 21 November (BelTA) – Belarus demonstrates adherence to holding free election campaigns. The statement was made by Nikolai Samoseiko, Chairman of the International Affairs Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, during a video briefing on 20 November, BelTA has learned.

"Belarus' accession to the convention on standards of democratic elections, voting rights and freedoms of the CIS states demonstrated Belarus' adherence to holding absolutely democratic free elections to other countries, our partners," stated Nikolai Samoseiko.

The MP remarked that for the first time in international practice the convention has stipulated, systematized, and legislated the main standards for holding elections as an obligation of the states that have acceded to the convention. "We say a lot that our Western partners sometimes make not entirely standard conclusions while referring to some mythic standards. This convention has outlined the specific standards for holding elections for the signatory states," he added.

Apart from that, Nikolai Samoseiko pointed out that in the near future Belarus has no plans to borrow novelties from CIS states with regard to election laws. "In the post-Soviet space, I primarily refer to the CIS states, every country develops its own way, including in election processes. Although we have a lot in common, at a recent conference we heard a lot of innovations that, I think, each country will assimilate. As far as Belarus is concerned, in the near future we are not going to implement these novelties into Belarusian legislation. We are looking forward to the presidential election in 2015 and the parliamentary elections in 2016. But we will certainly keep these novelties in mind," said Nikolai Samoseiko.

In his words, an interparliamentary structure within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union will be created some time later. "Time will tell whether it will be a full-fledged parliament or an interparliamentary assembly at the start but it is objective reality. The structure may not appear today or tomorrow or in the short term or in the medium term but it will be set up in the end," he said.