subject: Six candidates for Belarus presidency submit registration papers [print this page] Six candidates for Belarus presidency submit registration papers
Six candidates for Belarus presidency submit registration papers
MINSK, 12 November (BelTA) - Six people have filed documents with the CEC to get registered as presidential candidates, BelTA learned from Secretary of the Central Election Commission of Belarus Nikolai Lozovik.
The Central Election Commission has received registration documents from incumbent head of state Alexander Lukashenko and also from Yaroslav Romanchuk, Vitaly Rymashevsky, Andrei Sannikov, Nikolai Statkevich and Vladimir Provalsky. However, the latter stands no chance for registration as he has not collected the necessary number of signatures in his support.
By November 13 all presidential candidates must submit to the CEC a written statement of consent to stand as a presidential candidate, a questionnaire with biographical data and a declaration of income and assets (of the nominee, his spouse and dependent family members). During this year's election campaign, the candidates will be allowed a 20% mistake when calculating their gross annual income, and this will not be the ground for denying registration.
Registration deadline is November 18. This is the first time that ten people have real chances to become presidential candidates in Belarus.
The presidential elections in Belarus are scheduled for December 19.
Meanwhile, Yevgeny Sloboda, head of the operations office of the CIS observation mission, said on 12 November that election commissions in Belarus work in a fair and honest way.
The CIS observers monitor the election campaign in all the oblasts of the country and the city of Minsk. Over the twenty days of their stay in Belarus, they have examined the work of all the oblast election commissions and the Minsk city commission and visited over forty district and town commissions. The CIS observers watched the process of checking signatures by district and town commissions and attended the sessions of the commissions. According to the observers, all the commissions "work openly and provide the necessary information related to the election process," Yevgeny Sloboda said.
"I would also like to mention the openness of the Central Election Commission," the expert said. He added that the observers attend sessions of the CEC; the information on the preparation for the presidential elections is available on the website of the CEC and is regularly updated. At present, the CIS mission is analyzing the electoral code of Belarus to make sure it is compliant with the CIS Convention on the Standards of Democratic Elections, Electoral Rights and Freedoms.
The CIS observation mission has been working in Belarus since 20 October. Their report on the electoral law of Belarus will be available after the elections. The mission includes 70 observers, including 41 long-term observers.
