Yarmoshyna may step down as CEC chief by December 20

Lidziya Yarmoshyna may leave the post of the Central Elections Commission chairperson by December 20. She has not excluded it in an interview with Radio Liberty. However, everything depends on the Belarusian president, she noted.

The mandate of the current Central Election Commission will expire on December 20. New staff must be appointed in advance. New people may take all the 12 positions. “The position of the CEC secretary is also formally vacant because Mikalai Ivanavich Lazavik officially retired not long before death. 11 people are working now and there will be 12 people in the new CEC. Believe me, it is quite few,” Yarmoshyna said.

Half of the CEC staff is appointed by the President and the other half – by the Council of the Republic, the CEC chairperson said.

The new CEC will prepare for the next local election to be held by February 2018. It means that the election campaign will begin at the end of 2017.