Łukašenka to invite election observers on his terms

June 19, BPN. Observers will be invited to the 2024 parliamentary and local elections in Belarus when “necessary and appropriate,” Łukašenka has told Ihar Karpienka, chair of the central election commission.

“The bodies that invite observers are defined by law. We have nothing to hide,” Łukašenka’s press office quoted him as saying.

Belarus will ensure honest elections and invite observers to avoid accusations of holding elections “like in America,” he said.

“They shoot people [in the United States] after the election, hold elections by mail, and so on. Even today you can see a lot of falsifications,” the Belarusian ruler said.

Some 80 percent of voters clearly support the Belarusian authorities now, he claimed. “What do we have to be afraid of?” he said. “We’ll fight for the 20 percent that hesitate or oppose [the authorities]. That’s what I say as president.”

Both parliamentary and local elections are scheduled for February 25, 2024. The All-Belarusian People’s Assembly is expected to convene within 60 days after the voting.

Since 1996, independent internal observers and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitors have not recognized a single election in Belarus as free and fair. Allegations of vote rigging sparked mass anti-government protests in Belarus after Łukašenka’s disputed victory in 2020.