Activist groups complete collection of signatures to validate official nomination of presidential candidates in Belarus
MINSK. June 19 (Interfax) - The support groups for prospective presidential candidates in Belarus have completed collecting voters' signatures in support of their official registration.
A total of 15 such groups were registered earlier by the Belarusian Central Elections Commission.
These initially included groups of activists collecting signatures for incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, Liberal-Democratic Party leader and parliamentarian Oleg Gaidukevich, former Belgazprombank CEO Viktor Babariko, former head of the High Technology Park Valery Tsepkalo, former parliamentarian Anna Kanopatskaya, leader of the Belarusian Social-Democratic Gramada Sergei Cherechen, Co-Chair of the Tell the Truth non-governmental group Andrei Dmitriyev, Belarusian Christian Democracy Co-Chair Olga Kovalkova, leader of the movement For Freedom Yury Gubarevich, United Civil Party leader Nikolai Kozlov, Gomel-based farmer and blogger Yury Gantsevich, United Civil Party member Vladimir Nepomnyashchikh, deputy head of the Region 8 Association of Cargo Carriers Natalya Kisel, Gomel-based blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky's wife Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, and tattoo master and rock musician Alexander Tabolich.
During the campaign for collecting signatures, Gaidukevich, Kisel, Gubarevich, and Tabolich announced their decision to withdraw from the race.
Lukashenko, Babariko, Tsepkalo, Kanopatskaya, Tikhanovskaya, and Dmitriyev have claimed that their groups have collected the necessary number of signatures. Hence, six people could potentially be registered officially as presidential candidates.
The campaign to collect signatures in support of potential presidential candidates started on May 21. The groups are supposed to collect at least 100,000 signatures each to validate the nomination of their candidates.
Prospective candidates are supposed also to submit a number of documents, including a questionnaire and an income and property declaration, to the CEC by July 4.
The CEC will study documents to decide whether to register these candidates from July 5 to 14.
The Belarusian parliament decided on May 8 to schedule the presidential election for August 9, 2020. Certain voters entitled to cast their ballots ahead of this date would be able to do so from August 4 to 8.
