(English) DAY 1, Demo. Elections in Belarus/Демократические выборы для решения кризиса в Беларуси скачать в хорошем качестве

(English) DAY 1, Demo. Elections in Belarus/Демократические выборы для решения кризиса в Беларуси

"The purpose of the conference is to bring together Belarusian and international experts on elections to discuss ideas for holding early elections as a means to ending the political crisis in Belarus. In spring 2021, almost 800,000 Belarusian citizens took part in an online survey to express their support for negotiations leading to early elections and a number of international actors have supported the idea of resolving the crisis through an election. As evidenced by recent surveys conducted through Chatham House (UK) and ZOiS (Germany), trust in the official political institutions in Belarus remains weak. As the current institutions are unable function effectively, finding the way out of the crisis is becoming even more important. The conference will bring together political stakeholders from Belarus and abroad, Belarusian and international election experts, representatives of international organizations, and election management bodies from a wide range of countries. Panels comprising Belarusian and international experts will provide an opportunity for an open discussion of political and electoral options, policy approaches, and will specifically focus on exchange of expertise on electoral matters. Invitations were extended to representatives of the current authorities of Belarusin the spirit of pursuing a broad and inclusive public discussion of the resolution of the crisis. The participants will look at the possible avenues to have dialogue between society and the current authorities of Belarus pave the way towards holding early elections, the modalities for such elections, as well as the longer-term objective of fundamental electoral reform in Belarus, including through adoption of a new election code. Expert panels will consider the experience of other countries in holding post-crisis elections and facilitating longer-term electoral reform. Each panel discussion will be guided by a set of suggested questions and supplemented by contributions from the floor. The conference is expected to lead to more thematic debates on electoral, political and other topics of relevance to Belarus. The conference is co-organized by IFES, International IDEA and DRI, under the patronage of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of democratic Belarus. Working languages of the conference will be Belarusian, Russian and English."