BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/12/2005

Eight Presidential Candidates Registered In Belarus

27 December 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Belarus' electoral commission today registered eight candidates for the 19 March presidential elections, including incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The contenders now need to collect 100,000 signatures of support from eligible voters in order to be added to the ballot.

The united opposition candidate, Alyaksandr Milinkevich, is considered to have the best chance of any of Lukashenka's challengers. But he told RFE/RL that authorities were making life increasingly difficult for him and his supporters.

"The situation in the country is very difficult. For instance, our [party] activists are being arrested for distributing leaflets about the result of our [party] congress, including information relating to the united opposition candidate." Milinkevich said. "They [activists] are put on trial; huge fines are imposed. The authorities are afraid of even the smallest piece of alternative information."

The six other hopefuls include: Syarhey Haydukevich, leader of the Belarusian Liberal Democratic Party; Alyaksandr Kazulin, leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada); Zyanon Paznyak, exiled leader of the Conservative Christian Party; and former General Valery Fralou, an opposition lawmaker who staged a hunger strike in 2004.

Two additional former lawmakers, Alyaksandr Voytovich and Sergei Skrebets, are running as independent candidates.

(RFE/RL with agencies)

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/12/7867258F-8117-4B47-8507-F7A1FC2026A0.html