{"id":121401,"date":"2025-01-11T20:19:50","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T17:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/121401\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"authorities-vet-29000-government-loyal-observers-for-presidential-poll","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/121401\/","title":{"rendered":"Authorities vet 29,000 government-loyal observers for presidential poll"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

January 11, Pozirk<\/em><\/strong>. A total of 28,692 observers, including 28,300 domestic election monitors, were accredited for the seventh presidential election scheduled for January 21-26, the central election commission said on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost 19,000 of them are members of government-loyal public organizations, including 5,162 observers representing the official trade union federation; 2,924, the Bie\u0142aja Ru\u015b organization; 2,729, the official youth union; 2,705 and 2,598, the women’s and veterans’ associations, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of 3,550 accredited observers are members of pro-government parties, among them 1,859 members of the Bie\u0142aja Ru\u015b party uniting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka supporters, 924 Communists, 517 members of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice and 250 of the Liberal-Democratic Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest are individual applicants vetted by the authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of January 8, the CEC registered 362 foreign observers, including 190 from the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); 50, from the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, 29 from foreign election commissions and 16 from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk seeks flattering assessments from the Russian-dominated CIS and election officials from government-friendly countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus will hold its seventh presidential election from January 21 to 26, with the whole election cycle limited to just three months. The current campaign is taking place in a purged political landscape amid a new wave of crackdown on regime critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five presidential bidders are Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, his supporters Aleh Hajdukievi\u010d, Alaksandar Chi\u017eniak, Siarhiej Syranko\u016d as well as former MP Hanna Kanapackaja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian opposition dismissed the election as a sham, noting that political reprisals prevent pro-democracy candidates from running and voters from freely expressing their will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country has not held a single free and fair election since 1996 by the standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk stopped inviting OSCE monitors after the 2020 disputed presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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