Belarus: Two opposition figures claim enough signatures to run against Lukashenka
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 10 August 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Belarus: Two opposition figures claim enough signatures to run against Lukashenka, 10 August 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/55ee968e1b.html [accessed 27 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
August 10, 2015
By RFE/RL's Belarus Service
Campaign staff gather signatures for Viktar Tsyareshchanka in Minsk for the October presidential election.
Two would-be opposition candidates in Belarus's October 11 presidential election say they have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Supporters of Belarusian economist Viktar Tsyareshchanka and of Belarusian Liberal Democratic Party Chairman Syarhey Haydukevich said on August 10 they had gathered the required 100,000 signatures.
Incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the country's authoritarian ruler since 1994 who is currently serving his fourth term, was the first to surpass the 100,000 barrier.
His supporters say they have gathered more than 500,000 signatures in support of his candidacy.
Several other would-be candidates are also trying to collect the necessary signatures before the August 21 deadline.
Social activist Tatsyana Karatkevich has 75,000 and Belarusian Patriotic Party head Mikalay Ulakhovich has 72,000.
The gathered signatures must undergo a lengthy process of scrutiny by election officials before the candidacies are certified.
Elections in Belarus are ordinarily strictly managed by the state.
The country's 2010 presidential election and the crackdown that followed it were denounced by the foreign ministers of Germany, Sweden, Poland, and the Czech Republic as "unfortunate steps backwards in the development of democratic governance" in Belarus.
With additional reporting by Interfax
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
