PACE has urged Belarus to comprehensively reform its electoral system to bring it into line with international standards for democratic elections.
Approving a resolution and recommendation based on a report by Lord Blencathra (United Kingdom, EC), the Assembly said that the current failed electoral system in Belarus “had been a driving factor behind the current political, economic and human rights crisis affecting the country”.
The parliamentarians listed the priority areas requiring change in order to bring them into line with previous Assembly, OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission recommendations, recalling that they and others had been “pointing to the systemic problems” with the electoral system for more than two decades.