There are registered pro-democracy parliamentary candidates in 78 of the 110 electoral districts, whereas pro-government candidates are present in each district, Viktar Karnyayenka, a coordinator of the Campaign for Free Elections, told reporters in Minsk on Monday.
Even at the candidate registration stage, authorities tried to minimize the activity of pro-democracy candidates, said Valery Ukhnalyow, another coordinator of the Campaign for Free Elections. According to him, this is evidenced by the fact that pro-government candidates refused to take part in television debates, thereby preventing opposition candidates from participating in them.
"The authorities want the elections be quiet and unnoticeable," Mr. Ukhnalyow said. "Different methods are being used for this purpose in different areas. The authorities do not have a common plan in this regard. In one district, the authorities act mildly, whereas in another district their actions are rude. In general, there is the impression that the current authorities are simply unable to conduct fair and democratic elections."
Mr. Ukhnalyow said that the past stages of the election campaign suggested that there would be no transparent counting of votes. "Therefore, the objective of our campaign is to inform and convince voters that there are no elections in Belarus," he said.
