Lidia Yermoshina

Lidia Mikhaylovna Yermoshina (Belarusian: Лідзія Міхайлаўна Ярмошына, romanized: Lidziya Mikhaylauna Yarmoshyna; Russian: Лидия Михайловна Ермошина; born 29 January 1953) is a Belarusian politician. She was a member of the Central Election Commission of Belarus (1992–1996), and Chairwoman (1996–2021).

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions, the patronymic is Mikhaylovna and the family name is Yermoshina.

Lidia Yermoshina
Лідзія Ярмошына
Yermoshina in September 2016
Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission of Belarus
In office
6 December 1996 – 13 December 2021
PresidentAlexander Lukashenko
Preceded byViktar Hanchar
Succeeded byIhar Karpenka
Personal details
Born (1953-01-29) 29 January 1953
Slutsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union (now Belarus)
Alma materImmanuel Kant Baltic Federal University

Biography

Yermoshina was born in Slutsk, Minsk Region on 29 January 1953. In 1975, she graduated from the Faculty of Law at the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University. Beginning in 1975, she worked as a legal advisor until becoming an attorney's assistant in 1987.[1] She became Chairwoman of the Judiciary of the City Executive Committee of Babruysk in 1988, a post she held until 1996.

Belarusian elections

She has been a member of the Central Election Commission of Belarus since 1992, and Chairwoman of the organization since 1996. She was appointed by decree by Alexander Lukashenko in contradiction with the Constitution of Belarus, which stated that the candidacy of the Chairman of the CEC must be approved by the Supreme Council of Belarus. The previous Chairman, Viktar Hanchar, had been an active critic of the 1996 Belarusian referendum and was removed by Lukashenko after serving just little over a month.

In 2004, following the 2004 Belarusian parliamentary election and constitutional referendum, Yermoshina was banned from entering the European Union for allegedly participating in the manipulation of the results of the presidential election.[2] Following the same accusations, in 2006, the United States included her in the sanction list as well.[3] The ban was lifted in 2008.[4]

On 15 December 2010, presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov logged a legal complaint application to the Central Election Commission of Belarus, demanding they remove Yermoshyna from her office as Chairperson of the Central Election Commission. He cited that her position was illegal, as Yermoshyna was a member of incumbent Aleksandr Lukashenko's political team, compromising her neutrality, and was under international scrutiny for purportedly rigging the previous election. The complaints were ineffective.[5] Yermoshina was again sanctioned by the European Union in the aftermath of the 2010 election; these sanctions were suspended in 2015 and lifted in 2016.[6]

On 9 August 2020, Yermoshina appeared on Belarusian TV to condemn the "deliberate provocations" of protest voters in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election.[7] She also described long queues outside polling stations as an attempt at "sabotage" by the opposition.[8]

Independent observers of the election have noted vote counting irregularities and dozens have been subject to harassment and detention.[8] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the elections as "neither free nor fair."[9] After the election and the subsequent protests, Yermoshina was banned from entering the European Union,[6] the United Kingdom,[10] Switzerland[11][12] and Canada.[13]

Yermoshina was replaced by the former Minister of Education Ihar Karpenka on 13 December 2021.[14]

Personal life

Lidia Yermoshina has been divorced twice,[15] and has a son, Aleksei, who died at age 40 of unknown causes in June 2017.[16]

See also

References
  1. "ЕРМОШИНА Лидия Михайловна". Who is who in Belarus. 6 August 2010. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  2. "История европейских санкций в отношении Белоруссии". tass.ru. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  3. "Issuance of new Belarus Executive Order; Belarus Designations; Liberia Designation Removal".
  4. "EU lifts Belarus travel ban". Al Jazeera English. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  5. Batiukov, Michael (16 December 2010). "Presidential Elections in Belarus are Rigged and Falsified Even Before the Elections on December 19th". American Chronicle. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  6. "История европейских санкций в отношении Белоруссии" (in Russian). TASS. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  7. "Belarus' CEC blames long queues outside polling stations on provocations | Presidential election 2020 in Belarus | Belarus.by". www.belarus.by. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  8. Dixon, Robyn (9 August 2020). "Belarusan election officials say exit polls favor Lukashenko". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  9. "Thousands in Belarus decry president's reelection as rigged". AP NEWS. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  10. "Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK" (PDF). Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation HM Treasury. 25 June 2021.
  11. "Switzerland joins EU in sanctions against top Belarus officials". Swissinfo. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  12. "SECO: Ordinance on measures against Belarus". Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  13. "Consolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List". Global Affairs Canada. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  14. "Lydia Yermoshina no longer heads the Central Election Commission - and this is before the «referendum»". belarus-nau.org. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  15. "Yarmoshyna: I left as the men leave - I left my husbands apartments". EuroRadio. 29 March 2015.
  16. "Lawyer Aleksei Yermoshin, the son of the head of the Central Election Commission, died". Tut.by. 11 June 2017.
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