RPT: OSCE Absence Does Not Annul Presidential Election In Belarus - German Lawmaker
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published September 18, 2020 | 11:10 AM
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2020) The fact that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) did not send observers to monitor the August 9 presidential election in Belarus does not make the vote illegitimate, Waldemar Herdt, a member of the German parliament's committee on foreign affairs from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, told Sputnik.
Earlier in the day, the European Parliament refused to recognize Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as the winner and regard him as president beyond his current term, which ends in November. The legislative body said the election was conducted in violation of international standards and named the absence of an OSCE monitoring mission as one of the failures of the country's electoral process.
"Belarus invited the OSCE to observe elections, but the OSCE refused ... I therefore consider the absence of election observers to be an extremely shaky argument," Herdt said.
He went on to question the practice of using sanctions as diplomatic leverage.
"As practice shows, sanctions always hit the wrong people. I think that sanctions will have a rather negative impact on further developments in Belarus," Herdt added.
Belarus has been gripped by protests since the presidential election, as a result of which President Alexander Lukashenko was elected for his sixth consecutive term. The opposition did not recognize the results, claiming that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was the true winner.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
HEC reviews curricula for environmental sciences degree programme
ICC Asia looking forward to an action-packed Asia Cricket Week
Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Ambassador
Greece hands Olympic flame to 2024 Paris Games hosts
Two Kyiv hospitals evacuating over feared Russian strikes
World must act on neurotech revolution, say experts
Charles & Catherine's cancer diagnoses
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
King Charles to resume some public duties during cancer treatment: palace
US defense chief announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
Heavy rains cause damage to Spezand-Taftan railway track
Woman stabbed in Israel, attacker killed: police
More Stories From World
-
Two Kyiv hospitals evacuating over feared Russian strikes
8 minutes ago -
World must act on neurotech revolution, say experts
8 minutes ago -
Charles & Catherine's cancer diagnoses
23 minutes ago -
King Charles to resume some public duties during cancer treatment: palace
12 minutes ago -
US defense chief announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
12 minutes ago -
Woman stabbed in Israel, attacker killed: police
20 minutes ago
-
Israeli-fired unexploded bombs could take 14 years to clear: UN
12 minutes ago -
US announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
7 minutes ago -
Pakistan’s National Day Reception held in Colombo
7 minutes ago -
Erdogan's White House talks with Biden on May 9 postponed: Turkish official
6 minutes ago -
Spanish PM keeps country guessing on his future
7 minutes ago -
At least 10 people killed in Brazil fire: officials
2 hours ago