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Referendum in Belarus held without violations, observers deem vote valid

The national referendum on introducing amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus was held on February 27

© Peter Kovalev/TASS

MINSK, February 28. /TASS/. The referendum on introducing amendments and additions to the Belarusian constitution complied with national legislation and international commitments by Belarus, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, IPA CIS Observer Team Coordinator Konstantin Kosachev said at a press conference on Monday.

"The February 27th national referendum on introducing amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus was held in compliance with the rights and freedoms of the referendum’s participants and complied with the national legislation and international obligations of the Republic of Belarus in the electoral sphere," Kosachev emphasized.

The members of the CIS Observer Mission proposed to recognize the constitutional referendum in Belarus as valid. "The referendum on introducing amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus has been held," head of the observation mission, Ilkhom Nematov, said at a press conference.

It is pointed out that Belarusian Central Election Commission (CEC) did not receive any information from the observers about any violations during the referendum.

"The referendum was observed by 195 foreign observers and 45,701 national observers. The CEC did not receive any information from the observers about any violations of the referendum legislation," Belarusian CEC head Igor Karpenko noted.

"The referendum was in line with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus and with the international obligations undertaken by the country. The mission did not find any violations of national legislation. The mission acknowledges that the referendum was held transparently and openly," a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Kazybek Kochkonov said.

A total of 78.63% of eligible voters took part in the nationwide referendum, which was held on Sunday. More than 80% of the Belarusians who voted were in favor of amendments to the republic's constitution.

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