CEC head says election by list possible

On May 31, Lidziya Yaromoshyna, the Chair of the Belarusian CEC, told Euroradio that during the introduction of amendments to the Constitution the section dealing with elections would also be affected. When asked whether it is planned to introduce parliamentary elections in Belarus under a mixed system (by party lists), the head of the Central Election Commission said:"I think that if the Constitution changes, this option is not off the table."

“If the Constitution changes and a mixed electoral system is introduced, I would like it to provide a certain parity. That is, for example, half and half in the parliament. Because if the parties are given a very small number of seats that will be shared according to party lists, it will mean a very high barrier to make it into the parliament. That is, very few parties will get there. And consequently there will not be sufficient incentives for the development of the party system," Yarmoshyna explained.

Responding to a question about the possibility of financing parties from the budget in Belarus, the head of the CEC said that in principle they are not against state support for parties that participate in elections or, for example, go to parliament. “However, I don’t think that it will receive support with the Belarusian society,” Yarmoshyna noted. “You see, people will say, 'There's no money as it is, and they want us to give it to parties'. So I can't say anything about it, but it is the European standard".