The members of territorial election commissions for the forthcoming local elections who were nominated by political parties account for less than one percent of the total number, Lidziya Yarmoshyna, head of the central election commission, told reporters in Minsk on Monday.
According to her, political parties nominated 149 representatives and 105 of them were included in commissions. Of those included, 75 were nominated by the Communist Party of Belarus, nine of the "Spravedlivy Mir" (Just World) Belarusian Party of the Left, seven by the Liberal Democratic Party, five by the Republican Party of Labor and Justice, four by the United Civic Party, two by the Belarusian Agrarian Party, two by the Hramada Belarusian Social Democratic Party, and one by the Belarusian Social and Sports Party.
As many as 1,495 territorial election commissions with a total membership of 11,697 were formed, Ms. Yarmoshyna said.
Of the commissions’ members, 51.9 percent were nominated through the collection of voter signatures, 35.3 percent were nominated by non-governmental organizations and political parties, and 12.8 percent by "workers’ collectives."
Among the commissions’ members, there are 999 civil servants, 1,100 people aged under 30 and more than 9,000 women.
As many as 4,129 members were nominated by NGOs, including 1,882 by trade unions, 527 by the Belarusian National Youth Union, 517 by Belaya Rus, and 489 by the Belarusian Women’s Union.
Nominees of political parties and NGOs account for one-third of the commissions’ membership as required by the recently enacted amendments to the Electoral Code, Ms. Yarmoshyna noted.
