On May 14, former political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich and his associates came to the Central Election Commission in Minsk, seeking to get the so-called protest candidates’ initiative groups registered.
According to the 2010 presidential candidate, they are going to conduct the election campaign in dozens of Belarusian cities and towns.
As of Thursday evening, more than 20 persons linked to Mikalai Statkevich filed the documents for registration; May 15 is the deadline for submission. However, Statkevich voiced fears that most of them would be barred from taking part in the election on the basis of flimsy excuses and pretexts.
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 added.
On Thursday evening, about a hundred people gathered together near the House of Government in Independence Square, including would-be presidential wannabes and their supporters. Most of the participants were wearing masks. When reached by journalists, many said they wanted ‘change’ and Alyaksandr Lukashenka‘s resignation.
There were no incidents or detentions, but ainclothed policemen were filming the one-hour organic rally.
Belsat TV photo report:
As reported earlier, the 2020 presidential election is scheduled for August, 9. Over the last five days, 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.
