On 11 September parliamentary elections will take place in Belarus, so the issue of Belarusian-language version of the website is the question of the hour. Outlining his proposal, Valiantsin Stefanovich notes that web-page of the Central Election Commission has a version for persons with poor eyesight, which makes it accessible to all citizens, including those with physical disabilities.

In his appeal the human rights defender reminds Lidziya Yarmoshyna that in Belarus there are two official languages, and expresses his concern that the Central Commission’s web-site operates only in one of them – Russian.

“The absence of the Belarusian-language version of the site, in our deep conviction, is not conducive to the practice of full implementation of the principle of equality of the two official languages, enshrined in Article 17 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus”, – is stated in the appeal.

The appeal also refers to Article 2 of the Law “On languages in the Republic of Belarus” dated 26 January 1990, according to which the Belarusian state provides comprehensive development and functioning of the Belarusian and Russian languages in all spheres of public life; and the citizens are guaranteed the right to use the national language and to choose the language of communication.

“The presence of Belarusian-language version of the web-site, in practice, would contribute to a greater use of the Belarusian language in such important sphere of social and political life of the country as elections”, – the appeal says.

Stressing the importance of Belarusian-language version of the Central Election Commission website, independent observers are appealing to the fact that some of the subjects of the electoral process are actively using Belarusian language during the election campaigns.

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The campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” is non-partisan and does not intend to support political parties or any politicians. The entire election process is assessed by observers solely on the basis of the principles of free, democratic and transparent elections, which can enable the people of Belarus to fully exercise their constitutional right to participate in the governance of their country.

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