The initiative group has collected 100,000 signatures for nominating Andrey Dzmitryeu for presidency, campaign chief Syarhei Vaznyak said on Tuesday.
“We have good news. There have been 100,000 signatures collected, today I am sure of it. In the next three days that left, we will be working to provide a small stock [of signatures],” he wrote on Facebook.
At the same time, Vaznyak urged the campaigners to ‘stay focused’.
“After checking and discarding improperly completed sheets, we need to submit at least 105-110K signatures to election commissions,” he stressed.
Earlier, incumbent president Alyaksandr Lukashenka stated that about 1.5 mln citizens had supported him by putting their signatures.
With over 330,000 signatures collected, former banker Viktar Babaryka is currently taking the lead among alternative candidates. In turn, Valery Tsapkala, a former head of the Belarusian Hi-Tech Park, mentioned the figure of 180,000, ex-MP Hanna Kanapatskaya – 100,000. Syarhei Cherachan claims the goal is within their teams’ reach; Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, however, says she does not know how many people have signed for her by now.
Earlier, businesswoman Natallya Kisel and politician Aleh Haydukevich announced their withdrawal from the election campaign.
The Belarusian Central Election Commission (CEC) registered 15 of 55 initiative groups. It means that over a dozen wannabe candidates got the green light for collecting signatures to be nominated for the 2020 presidential run. There are both establishment and moderate opposition politicians among them.
To officially become a presidential candidate, a contender must get 100,000 signatures for his/her nomination. The initiative groups are to be engaged in collecting signatures from May, 21 to June, 19. The names of the candidates will be announced in mid July, and the election will be held on August, 9.
