OSCE SAYS BELARUSIAN ELECTIONS 'SIGNIFICANTLY SHORT' OF DEMOCRATIC STANDARDS...
Published:
20 October 2004 y., Wednesday
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice President Tone Tinsgaard, who led an OSCE short-term monitoring mission for the 17 October legislative ballot, said on 18 October that the elections fell "significantly short" of Belarus's OSCE commitments.
The OSCE refused to monitor the presidential referendum held the same day, even though it was invited to do so by Minsk. According to Tinsgaard, the biased referendum campaign by the Belarusian government "contributed to a highly distorted campaign environment."
Tinsgaard said the authorities raided the campaign offices of opposition candidates, coerced many groups of voters to cast ballots in the 17 October polls, and conducted biased coverage of election-relates issues in the media. OSCE monitors determined that in 60 percent of polling stations they visited the vote count lacked transparency and was practically uncontrollable.
Šaltinis:
RFE/RL's Belarus Service
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
51-year-old mother of eight, sits beside her sick husband, Tuy Muy, 52, in Battambang Provincial Referral Hospital. He is lying on a bed with a stomach problem, battling nausea and vomiting.
more »
The length of maternity and paternity leave are at the heart of a crucial vote in the plenary sitting of March 24-25.
more »
The perception women have of the EU, the way the economic and financial crisis is affecting women and the lessons to be learnt ahead of the 2014 elections are among the issues to be tackled during a colloquium being held at the European Parliament on Tuesday.
more »
To achieve quicker de facto gender equality, Commission and Member States should adopt and implement specific gender equality policies, Parliament said in a resolution adopted on Thursday.
more »
Are you thinking about setting up your own business or are you already a successful entrepreneur? The Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs exchange scheme offers an excellent opportunity for new entrepreneurs to acquire relevant skills for managing a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).
more »
The pain of divorce and separation is all too often accompanied by financial and emotional hardship when one parent lives abroad and refuses to provide financial help.
more »
Most Europeans still do not know they can call 112 anywhere in the EU to contact the police, fire brigade or an ambulance.
more »
Helping to meet Haiti's humanitarian, reconstruction and nation-building needs must be the EU's priority in tackling the earthquake's aftermath, says Parliament in a resolution approved on Wednesday.
more »
Further work is needed to continue improving access to safe drinking-water at home, sewerage systems and safe bathing water throughout the European Region.
more »
Poor housing remains a blight across Europe and Tuesday evening MEPs will debate a plan to extend EU funding to help renovate and repair housing stock for the poorest people on the continent.
more »