Written question asked by Andrew Rosindell (Conservative) on Monday, 1 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 9 November 2004. It was answered by Denis MacShane (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 November 2004 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which external bodies monitored the recent elections in Belarus; and what their assessments were.

Answer: Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which external bodies monitored the recent elections in Belarus; and what their assessments were. [196156] Mr. MacShane: According to the Central Election Commission in Belarus, approximately fifteen international organisations were given accreditation to monitor the 17 October 2004 parliamentary elections. The main organisations were the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and organisations working together under the umbrella of the Commonwealth Independent States (CIS). In its preliminary findings and conclusions, the OSCE/ ODIHR stated that the elections "fell significantly short of OSCE commitments for democratic elections". CIS observers concluded that the elections were "conducted in accordance with the norms of existing electoral legislation and were found free, fair, legitimate and transparent."

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 196156; 426 c628W;426 c629W
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Elections International cooperation Election observers Monitoring Belarus
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk