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Election commissions are largely consist of criminals who were involved in election frauds, Lyabedzka says

Belarus’ election commissions are largely consist of criminal offenders because there are many people on them who falsified election results during previous election campaigns, Anatol Lyabedzka, chairman of the opposition United Civic Party, told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday.

“A specific example is the case in which now-former police Lieutenant Colonel Mikalay Kazlow caught the leadership of a commission stuffing ballots,” Mr. Lyabedzka said. “Those people headed an election commission in 2010 and may head a commission now.”

“I can say the same with regard to Ms. Yarmoshyna [head of the central election commission] and [Mikalay] Lazavik [secretary of the commission],” Mr. Lyabedzka said. “Alyaksandr Lukashenka says that [presidential] election results were revised or distorted – upward or downward – by 10 percent. This means that he accused the same Lazavik of being involved in that crime.”

Mr. Lazavik’s favorite allegation is that the United Civic Party nominated a woman who illegally distilled alcohol to an election commission, but “we have checked the lists of nominees to both district and precinct commissions and established that none of them has ever been charged with illegal distilling,” Mr. Lyabedzka said.

Nonetheless, he expressed gratitude to Mr. Lazavik for advertising the party through the media, even though that advertising was negative. //BelaPAN