MINSK, 31 October (BelTA) – The number of potential candidates to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus has reduced from 560 to 531, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina told the media on 31 October, BelTA has learned.
At present a total of 531 candidates are taking part in the campaign. “These are 29 persons fewer than the number registered at first,” Lidia Yermoshina said.
Nine candidates were denied registration. The major reason was the violations in conducting the pre-election campaigning. The matter pertains mainly to the non-observance of Article 47 of the Election Code, which prohibits advocacy of racial, ethnic and religious discord, calls to dismantle the constitutional order, insults of officials and other candidates. The others withdrew voluntarily.
Apart from that, some candidates publish and distribute printed materials with no imprint, hold public assemblies that violate the law. Some politicians misinterpret rather liberal democratic norms of the law and hold gatherings on the territory of other constituencies. This is an attempt by some opposition parties to cover the regions of the country with their political activities to the maximum extent possible, the CEC head said.
Eleven such facts have been registered. “If such cases repeat, candidates (even if this is done by their proxies) will get warnings concerning the violation of law and will then have their registration canceled,” Lidia Yermoshina said.
The elections to the House of Representatives are scheduled for 17 November.
