Belarus election officials accuse opposition of attempt to pass coronavirus on them
Lidziya Yarmoshyna, Chairperson of the Belarusian Central Election Commission (CEC), claims opposition politician Mikalai Statkevich and his associates intended to infect CEC employees with the novel coronavirus and thwart the commission’s work.
According to the top official, there was a woman diagnosed with COVID-19 among Statkevich’s supporters.
“And she is aware of it [the diagnosis]. She came here several times. Moreover, she demanded special conditions, she wanted her documents to be filed in the office. She might have been set to spit in my reception room,” Lidziya Yarmoshyna stressed.
The chairperson compared the work of the CEC staff to that of ‘medical workers in the pest houses’. She has no doubt that the woman who allegedly contracted the coronavirus appeared in the CEC building to disrupt the officers’ professional activity.
“It is the unfair means that the group resort to. It is nothing but dishonest and vile behaviour,” Yarmoshyna said.
On May 19, the Belarusian CEC refused to register nearly 30 initiative groups of pro-Statkevich wannabe candidates, including those of the politician himself and his wife Maryna Adamovich.
Last week, a few dozen persons linked to Mikalai Statkevich filed the documents for registration. According to the opposition leader, they were ready to conduct the election campaign in dozens of Belarusian cities and towns. To provide Belarusians with the opportunity to legally protest against the incumbent leadership, the team is going to use the election campaign for holding street rallies, he said.
“We will put up information pickets in central city zones, and everyone interested will be able to join these pickets at 12.00 on Sundays in order to express everything they think about the situation in the country,” Statkevich stressed.
However, he voiced fears that most of them would be barred from taking part in the election on the basis of flimsy excuses and pretexts.
The 2020 presidential election is scheduled for August, 9. Over the last week, many people have profiled their presidential ambitions, including incumbent leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, former MP Hanna Kanapatskaya, Belarusian hi-tech park founder Valery Tsapkala, banker Viktar Babaryka, and others.
Belsat.eu
