The central election commissions on August 17 adopted a schedule for parliamentary candidates’ television and radio addresses to the voters.
The pre-recorded five-minute addresses are to be broadcast every day in the period between August 27 and September 14 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. for television addresses and from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. for radio addresses.
Lidziya Yarmoshyna, head of the central election commission, told reporters on Friday that candidates’ appearances would not be broadcast live. "Our directive adopted on July 5 clearly says that candidates’ campaign addresses on both radio and television shall be pre-recorded. This rule also applies to debates between candidates."
Ms. Yarmoshyna said that the central election commission had recommended the district commissions to complete the candidate registration procedure on one day, August 22. This is necessary to prevent allegations that the campaigning conditions in the House of Representatives elections are not equal, she explained.
"If candidates, on the day of registration, file applications with election commissions expressing a wish to participate in debates, lists of participants will be sent to appropriate channels and debates will be organized," Ms. Yarmoshyna said. "To organize a debate, there should be at least two parliamentary candidates in an electoral district who wish to participate."
