BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

24/06/2008

Most Belarusian opposition leaders to run in parliamentary elections

MINSK. June 24 (Interfax) - Most Belarusian opposition politicians plan to run personally or indirectly in the parliamentary elections set by presidential decree for September 28.

Sergei Kalyakin, the leader of the Party of Communists of Belarus, suggested that, if Minsk's pledge that the elections will be free and democratic proves to be true, Belarus will only benefit. "I so far have serious doubts that the elections will meet OSCE standards. But I would really like to be mistaken in this particular case," Kalyakin told Interfax.

Belarusian Social-Democratic Gramada organization leader Stanislav Shushkevich told Interfax that about 50 people representing the organization would run in the elections in various parts of Belarus. Moreover, Shushkevich said he would not rule out running personally in the elections.

Igor Rynkevich, a deputy chairman of the Belarusian Social- Democratic Party Gramada, whose leader Alexander Kozulin is in jail, said the party plans to nominate its candidates in the elections. "Two people will run in Minsk - they are Alexander Kozulin's daughter Olga and me," Rynkevich told Interfax.

United Civil Party leader Anatoly Lebedko also told Interfax that party members, including him, "will conduct an election campaign."

"However, the party reserves the right to withdraw its candidates if opposition members are not included in elections commissions and barred from taking part in the vote count," he said.

Alexander Logvinets, an aide to Alexander Milinkevich, the chairman of the unregistered non-governmental organization Movement For Freedom, said his movement would not nominate candidates for the elections as that would be against the law, but he added that individual supporters of the movement could well run.

Milinkevich will take active part in the parliamentary election campaign by supporting other democratic candidates, Logvinets said. "Alexander Milinkevich believes that he could be much more useful if he helps candidates in the election campaign than if he runs himself," Logvinets said.

Source:

http://www.interfax.com/3/405523/news.aspx

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