Updated at 13:52,22-04-2024

Presidential election date set for October 11

Euroradio

Belarus' Central Election Commission proposes to hold the presidential election on October 11 - one month earlier than previously planned.

Central Election Commission chairperson Lidziya Yarmoshyna said on Tuesday when meeting with the head of state that the presidential election could take place on October 11. The previous plan had been to organize the election one month later.

According to Yarmoshyna, the date of October 11 was justified, because it would not require to gather an ad hoc session of the House of Representatives to approve the date. MPs can pass the decision already on June 30 before they break for summer. Aliaksandr Lukashenka promised that the election would be held decently.

BELTA quotes the head of state as saying:

In Belarus nobody will be forbidden to monitor the presidential election. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the statement during the routine meeting with Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Lidia Yermoshina on 9 June, BelTA has learned.

Speaking about Belarus' international commitments during the presidential election campaign, Alexander Lukashenko stressed: “We should honor them in full just like we did before.”

“We are not going to forbid anyone from monitoring the election, including from outside and domestic observers. The only thing I would like to ask is that we shouldn't promise something we cannot do and we shouldn't experiment outside the scope of law,” said the head of state. “We have laws, normal laws as good as laws of others, that can ensure stability and calmness throughout the entire election campaign, including after the presidential election.”

Financial aspects of the election campaign were mentioned during the routine meeting. According to the head of state, there is no money to waste but everything should be decent just like it was in the past.

“We have never spent money excessively. We did not spend hundreds of millions, billions of dollars on these campaigns. No bribes, no extortions. We can be an example for any country in this regard.”