DATE:
10/01/2006
MINSK, Belarus, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- A challenger to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has withdrawn his candidacy, implying that elections scheduled for March are illegal.
"I do not want to help create an illusion that Lukashenko's running for a third term is lawful and that the campaign is being conducted in line with the country's constitution and election legislation," Alexander Voitovich said in a statement released Monday.
Voitovich, the former speaker of the upper house of Parliament, said the election commission did not include independent candidates' representatives.
He also claimed that Lukashenko was the only candidate who had been given access to the state-controlled media, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Voitovich's withdrawal leaves seven candidates for presidential elections set for March 19, including Alexander Milinkevich, the sole candidate representing the democratic opposition.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, announced his intention to run for a third term in October after a 2004 referendum abolished the constitution's clause limiting the head of state to two consecutive terms.
Various human rights organizations have criticized the human rights situation in Belarus since Lukashenko became president.
Source:
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060110-041544-3835r
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