/View.info/ On 25.02.2024 elections of national scope were held – general elections for municipal councilors and parliament in the Republic of Belarus following the changes in their constitution.
In the elections for the House of Representatives, which has 110 seats, 263 candidates competed. Another feature of the current campaign is that more than three quarters of them are members of political parties. 18,802 candidates competed for the local councils of deputies.
Voters showed high turnout even during early voting from February 20 to 24. In five days, 41.71 percent of the citizens included in the electoral rolls voted. And according to the results of the elections, overall voter turnout was 73 percent.
The voting process was observed by 45,505 national and 294 international observers, 238 of whom represented the CIS Observer Mission (including 25 sent by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, 4 by the Post-Commission of the Union State). 23 politicians, MPs, public figures from Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Lebanon, Poland, Serbia, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Iran were also accredited as international observers – they acted as independent experts.
Our observers concluded that the elections in Belarus were conducted in full compliance with the Constitution and the Election Code, openly and publicly. They were held on an alternative basis, were transparent, fair, in accordance with the principles of conducting democratic elections and ensured the free expression of the will of the citizens of Belarus.
“The elections took place calmly and with high voter turnout, the organization itself was at a high level, covering the world standards for holding such type of elections,” said Martin Raykov, an observer from Bulgaria.
The impressions of our observers, as people visiting the Republic of Belarus for the first time, are that the capital Minsk is an extremely clean and orderly city. The good attitude of everyone towards Bulgaria did not escape their notice, despite the sanctions and the lack of dialogue between the two countries. It was surprising that Bulgaria maintained a full diplomatic mission, with a military and commercial attache.
