On 28 January, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko met with Lidia Yermoshina, the Chairperson of the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda.

This year the term of office of the current members of both Houses of Parliament of Belarus, the Council of the Republic and the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, is expiring. Under the Constitution of Belarus, the President calls new elections to the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic.

The Head of State and the Chairman of the Commission for Elections and National Referenda discussed matters pertaining to the upcoming election campaign, namely its period and some issues relating to the procedure of parliamentary elections.

The elections are due to take place no later than on 12 October. But the Constitution of Belarus provides the possibility to hold parliamentary elections in two stages. In this respect, the end of September is viewed as the most probable period for the elections.


Accordingly, the election campaign will officially start at the end of June this year.

The elections should be held openly and democratically. Partaking in the upcoming elections will be members of the election commission eligible for deliberative vote, as their participation has proved positive. Political parties that will nominate their representatives as candidates to the House of Representatives, will be able to appoint one of their members to the central election commission for the period of the election campaign. Representatives of political parties will have an opportunity to participate in discussions of the issues and problems that will be considered by the central election commission.

Issues relating to international monitoring of the elections were another topic of today’s meeting.
The Head of State emphasised that international observers would be invited to monitor the elections. Each international organisation that will be invited to send its members to observe the elections, will be able to send as many observers as it will find necessary. Both OSCE and the CIS, which as a rule send their observer missions, will have no limits as to the number of people in these missions.