Regime hasn’t fulfilled demands of democratic forces. There won’t be elections

• 9.09.2008, 11:41

By postponing adoption of the decision on participation or non-participation in the “parliamentary elections”, the oppositional parties offered the authorities “to improve the situation” and to man up the district elections commissions with oppositionists before September 8.

In the statement of the Political Council it is stated that district commissions have been formed “with violation of the principle of pluralism and with less members than the law permits”.

However, the Central Election Commission hasn’t agreed to place the issue of checking the legality of forming precinct election commissions on the agenda of its last session.

The chair of the CEC Lidziya Yarmoshyna has noted that the CEC had never viewed such generalizing issues. “We perform controlling functions in concrete work, in particular, when considering complaints,” she noted. “In order to consider the question offered by the political parties at the session of the CEC, we should check the order of formation of 6,523 precinct commissions and 110 district election commissions. It is impossible for us, and superficial consideration of this issue is pointless”.

Thus, the demands of the political parties relating necessity of oppositionists’ presence in election commissions haven’t been fulfilled.

Votes are to be counted by people “approved” by the regime, and this means there won’t be independent vote count.

The total number of candidates in the parliamentary elections is 282 candidates. There are at least 115 pro-democracy candidates among them, which makes 41%. And opposition representatives make only 0.7% among members of precinct election commissions.