Members of Belarusian-Russian Parliamentary Assembly`s observation mission criticize their OSCE colleagues :: Charter'97 :: News

Members of the observation mission of the Belarusian-Russian Parliamentary Assembly for Belarus` parliamentary elections and referendum criticized their OSCE colleagues while speaking at a news conference in Minsk on Friday.

OSCE observers tend to make forejudgements, "follow some predetermination" and "use double standards" instead of assessing the situation impartially, Sergei Antufyev, a member of the Russian State Duma said.

Belarus` electoral regulations make it possible to conduct free and democratic elections in the country, he noted. "If a state invites such a broad circle of foreign observers, as the Republic of Belarus has done, this means that it is not closed and is sure that the election campaign will be held within the legal framework," he said.

Vladimir Nikitin, another member of the Duma, insisted that the OSCE frequently uses double standards in assessments of various political campaigns, citing national referendums on joining the European Union as an example. In some states, those plebiscites were accompanied by obvious violations of international and national law, but international observers turned a blind eye to those violations, he said.

Mr. Nikitin pointed out that OSCE observers would make an impartial assessment of Belarus` parliamentary elections only if they displayed "normal human honesty" and get rid of their "superiority complex" and "self-granted status of teachers of democracy."