Observers from the Russian Central Election Commission, responsible for reports following any official visits or events, made no formal reports on the results of the presidential elections in Belarus. The presentation of report was first scheduled for 23 December, then put off till January and, finally, canceled at all.
According to the CEC head Vladimir Churov, the first attempt to speak on the report failed as deputy head Leonid Ivlev «had to prepare and compile the information received.» «We carefully examine all the circumstances, because a political statement is not important for us,» Russian «Vedomosti» quoted Vladimir Churov.
However, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev was reported on the results of the observation by Leonid Ivlev during a closed meeting of the press-services of the electoral commissions, «Rossiiskaya Gazeta.» The CEC deputy head said that «the election commissions in Belarus are under the clear control of the executive power,» and the Belarusian legislation does not regulate a number of important points. Thus, the vote counting process is not regulated in details, and ballots are just «piled up.» In Russia, they are laid out by the individual stacks, added the deputy.
Later, Deputy Chairman of the CEC of Russia reported that he «had forgotten everything» about the elections in Belarus and therefore there would be no public report on the monitoring results. CEC member Ihor Borisov, an observer of the CIS mission, explained that «such reports are not obligatory.»
«We’ve been short-term observers — checked the polling stations right before the vote on December 19, looked at the structure of work organized, the process of voting, as well as the final phase of elections — summing up. The mission concluded that: there were no facts to question the final results,» he commented.
The observer noted that the events hadn’t been assessed «before» and «after» the election because it’s not within the mandate of the mission. «Otherwise, one can go very deeply and begin to assess the political system up to the constitution. But one should respect the national constitution of another country,» said Ihor Borisov.
According to the Belarusian political analyst Valeri Karbalevich, the position of the Russian Central Election Commission is related to the fact that the attitude of official Moscow to Alexander Lukashenko is not that definite, as at the last presidential elections. The expert said that Dmitri Medvedev congratulated re-elected head of the Belarusian State «cautiously, and not even with a victory, but with the election results.» In addition, Russian media criticize the problems with democracy in Belarus, argues Valeri Karbalevich.
About 60 people of the CEC of Russia attended elections in Belarus. They were both in the mission from the OSCE, calling the elections undemocratic, and from the CIS, recognizing the elections.
