CEC registers Łukašenka, four others as presidential candidates

December 23, Pozirk. Belarus’ longtime ruler Alaksandar Łukašenka, his supporters Aleh Hajdukievič, Alaksandar Chižniak, Siarhiej Syrankoŭ as well as former MP Hanna Kanapackaja are official presidential candidates for the January poll, the central election commission has said.
Łukašenka has collected 2,518,145 ballot-access signatures, leaving other bidders far behind, the central election commission claimed.
The four remaining presidential hopefuls have barely reached the 100,000 threshold that allows qualifying for the race.
Hajdukievič, of the Liberal Democratic Party, collected 134,472 signatures; Siarhiej Syrankoŭ, of the pro-government Communist Party of Belarus, 125,577; former MP Hanna Kanapackaja, 121,077; Alaksandar Chižniak, leader of the pro-government Republican Party of Labor and Justice, 112,779.
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. Foreign-based observers from human rights groups say that the signature numbers are hardly credible and likely significantly inflated.
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.
Belarus has not held a single free and fair election since 1996 by the standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Estonia does not recognize the upcoming presidential election in Belarus – foreign ministry
- EconomyUpper house approves fines for vegetable shortagesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsŁukašenka says Belarusians should be grateful to his government for staying out warThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyWoman killed by hit-and-run Belarusian in PolandThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsFour more people recognized as political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsUpper house passes bill to ban “extremists” from educationThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyBelarusian universities to offer 1,000 tuition-free places for Russians this yearThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- SocietyPoland seizes medical products from Belarus with Interpol involvementThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyKuźniacoŭ replaces Jafimaŭ as industry ministerThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRights defenders label seven as political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsLukašenka appoints ambassadors to Africa, Middle East, Latin AmericaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsŁukašenka appoints more than a dozen local officialsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyMPs vote to criminalize unauthorized possession of dronesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- PoliticsPaźniak: Washington can pull Belarus away from RussiaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- SecurityBelarus to open six new border outpostsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityLithuania detects irregular migration at Belarus border after days of calmThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarus’ cattle population shrinksThe material is available only to POZIRK+