Weekly report on the results of observation: August 5-10

SUMMARY

- the 2019 parliamentary elections take place against the background of complex political circumstances in the world and Europe, certain progress in the relations between Belarus and the United States and the EU, and a bilateral crisis in the Belarus-Russia relations;

- there has been ongoing cooperation of Belarus and democratic countries in many areas, and a certain liberalization of the socio-political and cultural spheres is observed against the background of continuing violations of human rights;

- the elections are governed by the legislation that fails to take into account the most crucial recommendations made by both domestic observers and international organizations;

- the President’s decree to schedule the elections to the House of Representatives for November 17 violates the constitutional provision on the term of office of the National Assembly members, significantly reducing the tenure of the current Parliament, and constitutes an interference in the activities of the legislature.

Read full report: https://spring96.org/files/misc/2019_weekly_1_en.pdf

Weekly report on the results of observation: August 12-17

- the electoral campaign is characterized by a calm atmosphere, the preparation for elections is not covered widely in the media. In this setting, under notice come the activities of the chair of the Central Election Commission Lidziya Yarmoshyna, who appeared quite often in the media in the reporting period;

- in general, the provisions of the CEC Resolution No. 27 are followed: "Election 2019" banners are placed on the websites of executive committees, the information is posted in full compliance with the requirements of the CEC. However, we should note the absence of banners on the Belarusian language versions of some websites of the Hrodna district executive committees;

- prospective candidates and political parties do not show significant pre-election activity. However, the actions of individual activists in the provinces contain elements of covert election campaigning.

Observation of the elections to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus is carried out by the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights Center “Viasna” in the framework of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”.