Yarmoshyna: I did not expect so many people to choose NOTA

CEC chairperson Lidziya Yarmoshyna, CEC spokesperson Mikalai Lazavik and Minister of Information Liliya Ananich have given a joint press conference dedicated to the preliminary results of the presidential election.

The results announced by Yarmoshyna did not differ much from the numbers the CEC chairperson had reported at the press conference last night. The exact numbers will be known when the information from the polling station situated abroad arrives, she specified.

The CEC chairperson was surprised to see that so many people chose ‘none of the above”С – 6.4% all over the country and 20.6% in Minsk. “I did not think that eth NOTA percent would be so high,” Yarmoshyna noted.

Speaking about the alternative candidates’ results, they lacked political recognition in the society, Yarmoshyna said.

Euroradio journalist Zmitser Lukashuk asked the Minister of Information if the state channels had covered all the presidential candidates equally.  The national mass media ‘fulfilled their part’, Liliya Ananich replied.

The election is only part of Belarus’ life and it is incorrect ‘to count the country’s life in minutes and seconds’, the official added.