MINSK: A single voting day was successfully held in Belarus to elect deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the eighth convocation and local Councils of Deputies of the twenty-ninth convocation.
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko also cast his vote in the polls of deputies to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly and local councils at the polling station in the Belarusian State University of Physical Education.
The head of state, according to tradition, talked to media persons and took numerous questions related to both the situation in the country and the global agenda.
President Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he voted for professionalism and devotion and a difficult time is ahead for them. He said, “In the Parliament we need people who are reliable, professional, and devoted to the Belarusian people”.
He expressed confidence that absolutely reliable, intelligent people who understand the tasks facing the nation and the people will be elected. Aleksandr Lukashenko said that the role of the parliament will be increasing as they are already transferring some powers to the parliament and other authorities.
Deputies of House of Representatives of National Assembly Elected in Belarus
Around of 5,411 polling stations were open from 8:00 till 20:00 on 25 February. As per media reports, the registration of candidates for deputies ended on January 30. The campaign period was held from January 31 to February 24. On February 25 people voted to elect their representatives. Similarly, early voting took place from 20 to 24 February.
About 45,505 national observers kept an eye on the proceedings of the elections. As many as 294 international observers were accredited as well. Missions had been sent to monitor the elections on the single voting day by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia in addition to heads and representatives of election authorities of other nations as well as experts from European countries and other ones (Lithuania, Italy, Germany, France, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, Serbia, Bulgaria).
On the single voting day people had to elect 110 members of the eighth-convocation House of Representatives of the National Assembly and 12,514 members of the convocation of various municipal councils of deputies. The deputies were elected by people directly and will stay in office for next five years.
The Chairman of the Central Election Commission, Igor Karpenko, stated that the data on turnout had been clarified – it amounted to 73.09 percent in the republic. More than 6.9 million people were included in the voter lists.
As per the local authority, the largest turnout was registered in the Mogilev region – 77.03 percent. In the Grodno region, it amounted to 76.90 percent, in Gomel – 75.85 percent, in Brest – 75.82 percent, in Vitebsk – 75.63 percent.
