Alexander Lukashenko, who has led the nation for over 30 years, has overseen a brutal crackdown on free media and opposition — which has slammed the upcoming January election as a farce.
Belarus’ election fee on Monday allowed solely seven politicians loyal to chief Alexander Lukashenko to begin amassing signatures to oppose him in upcoming presidential elections.
Lukashenko, who has led the nation for over 30 years, is about to hunt a seventh time period in January.
The authoritarian ruler confronted criticism after he was elected in 2020 in a vote that was rejected by the nation’s opposition and the West as rigged with fraud.
The election outcomes triggered nationwide protests and resulted within the arrest of round 65,000 folks — a lot of them opposition figures.
Human rights teams say Belarus holds round 1,300 political prisoners who’re denied ample healthcare and are sometimes forbidden from contacting their households whereas in jail.
Final week, the nation’s election fee registered an initiative group for Lukashenko to organize for the upcoming election.
Sergei Syrankov of the Communist Get together, Oleg Gaidukevich, the chief of the Liberal Democratic Get together, and former Inside Ministry spokeswoman Olga Chеmоdanova are three of the seven candidates chosen to begin amassing signatures.
The candidates are every required to gather no less than 100,000 signatures by 6 December in an effort to qualify to run within the race.
“These are various candidates, and I consider they simply wish to safeguard the incumbent,” Lukashenko mentioned of his challengers.
The fee rejected two opposition politicians who requested to register initiative teams.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a key determine of the Belarusian opposition who’s at present dwelling in exile, has denounced the upcoming elections as a farce.
“This isn’t an election however an imitation of an electoral course of held amid terror when various candidates and observers aren’t allowed,” Tsikhanouskaya mentioned.
In February, when the nation held parliamentary and native elections, impartial Western observers weren’t invited to observe the vote for the primary time because the nation’s independence in 1991.
Further sources • AP
