Observation of the election to the House of Representatives
of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus on 23th of September, 2012
of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus on 23th of September, 2012
The election programme of Valiantsin Lazarenkau, member of the Tell the Truth campaign and the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada) running for Parliament in Ivatsevichy constituency No. 11, has not been published by local state-owned newspaper called “Mayak” in its issue of 8 September.
Mrs. Anzhalika Kambalava, representative of the United Civil Party running in Baranavichy constituency, has received a reply to her request for clarifications on the fact of illegal censorship reportedly committed by the management of the “Brest” regional state-owned TV company.
Aliaksandr Paleichuk, pro-government candidate running for Parliament in Pinsk constituency No. 15, has met voters in working hours at the district’s state-owned enterprises and organizations, say local observers of the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign, referring to an official schedule of campaigning events submitted to the constituency’s election commission.
A number of Hrodna opposition candidates, including representatives of the BPF, the UCPB, the Fair World Party and the Tell the Truth campaign, have received a reply from the Central Election Commission lodged to urge the high officials to address the illegal restrictions on election campaigning events imposed by the city’s executive authorities.
September 3-9, 2012
General Conclusions - The campaigning is low-profile: candidate debates take place in few districts only, information boards in many districts remain empty; there is no mass distribution of printed campaign materials. - The Central Election Commission ruled to prohibit participation of candidates’ agents in debates in case the agents ran for mandate in other districts. The ruling is contrary to Article 46 of the Election Code, which allows participation of candidates’ agents in debates without any limitations. - TV-presentations of the opposition candidates and their platforms continue to undergo censorship in the state press. Observers register facts of usage of the administrative resource in favor of the pro-governmental candidates. - Election campaigning takes place in the climate of pressure on democratic candidates and civic activists from the state bodies. - The Supreme Court heard the complaints about denial of registration to candidates. One of 17 complaints was satisfied.
Brest authorities find it inexpedient to expand the list of authorized election campaigning locations in the city, says a reply from the region’s executive committee received by Ihar Maslouski, running for Parliament in constituency No. 2.
Ivan Sheha and Mikhail Karatkevich, parliamentary candidates running in Slonim constituency No. 58, were not allowed meeting employees of Zelva-based fram “Slavutsichy”, after the enterprise’s administration ordered to stop the event, and the farmers were forced to start work.
On 6 September the marshals of the Rechytsa District Court N. Hancharova, A. Kandzinau and S. Lapata (all in the photo) came to a shop of the private enterprise Alida & Co.”, where an opposition candidate Anton Niafiodau works. They blankly demanded from the workers to given them cash, allegedly as a compensation of a debt.
Opposition activist Barys Khamaida has been distributing independent press and held pickets on Lenin Street 28 for more than 20 years already. He has been many times arrested, imprisoned and fined for it, but always returns to his usual place. On 6 July the police literary pressed him to the wall with his table and then charged him with “disorderly conduct”.
The deputy editor of the stat-owned newspaper “Mahiliouskiya Vedamastsi” Henadz Liakhau crossed out the phrase “one decides for all” out of the electoral program of Liliya Sivakova, a candidate of the “Fair World” Party at Mahiliou-Kastrychnitskaya election constituency #86. The program was published in the newspaper issue #91 of 6 September 2012.
An electoral meeting with Viktar Malochka, a candidate for the Parliament running at election constituency #68, took place in the Builder's Club in the evening of 5 September. The leader of the United Civil Party Anatol Liabedzka also attended the event as an electioneering agent for Malochka.
