December 13, Pozirk. Former MP Hanna Kanapackaja who ran for president four years ago has applied for registration as presidential candidate for the upcoming January poll, the central election commission’s press office says.
Kanapackaja submitted her bid after Alaksandar Chižniak, Aleh Hajdukievič and Siarhiej Syrankoŭ, all of whom lead government-loyal parties.
Should authorities allow Kanapackaja to run, she may claim to represent the interests of pro-European Belarusians, opposition politician Anatol Labiedźka said earlier, commenting on his former party mate’s presidential bid.
Alaksandar Łukašenka, whose supporters claimed to have collected 2.5 million ballot-access signatures for his application, has until December 21 to submit his bid in person or by proxy.
Under the Belarusian Electoral Code, a candidate must garner at least 100,000 signatures to run for president. The required application documents include a biography, income and property statements, and a financial report from the campaign fund.
Belarus will hold its seventh presidential election from January 21 to 26, with the whole election cycle limited to just three months. The current campaign is taking place in a purged political landscape amid a new wave of crackdown on regime critics.
The Belarusian opposition dismissed the election as a sham, noting that political reprisals prevent pro-democracy candidates from running and voters from freely expressing their will.
The country has not held a single free and fair election since 1996 by the standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
