European Parliament: "Elections" In Belarus Blighted By Number Of Abuses Again

The election law was used to silence those who disagree.

The European Parliament believes that the parliamentary "elections" in Belarus "were again blighted by a number of abuses and drawbacks". Such a statement is made by the head of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Belarus, Robert Biedroń, tut.by writes.

Biedroń points out that the European Parliament was not invited to observe the parliamentary "elections". But the European Parliament has carefully studied the conclusions of international observers of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Robert Biedroń notes that currently the European Parliament has no official relations with the so-called National Assembly of Belarus "as this country is unable to hold elections in accordance with international democratic standards and fulfill its obligations when it comes to respect for fundamental freedoms and the rule of law".

- These early parliamentary "elections" could have become a turning point, which we had been waiting for to unblock the situation. We certainly appreciate that the Belarusian authorities accredited a number of local and international observers as a sign of goodwill, as well as we appreciate the fact that the day of the "elections" was calm. But still, these "elections" were once again blighted by a number of abuses and drawbacks. The election law was applied selectively in order to silence dissenters, - the MEP said.

The European Parliament believes that equal conditions were not created for all the candidates during the election campaign. The Belarusian authorities once again disregarded the recommendations of the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR, including those regarding the unbalanced composition of precinct election commissions and the lack of transparency during the vote count.

A meeting of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Belarus is scheduled for 27 November in Strasbourg. The delegation members will discuss the election results with the head of the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission, Corien Jonker.

We remind that the OSCE observers believe that the parliamentary "elections" in Belarus demonstrated "a complete lack of compliance with democratic obligations". The European Union called the last "elections" a missed opportunity.