Village Council Workers: We Are Not To Give Signatures For Democratic Candidates

Activists point out unequal conditions within the election campaign and note that administrative workers are not allowed to give their signatures for democratic candidates.

In Slonim applicant in candidates from the BCD Ales Masiuk and head of his staff Ivan Bedzko received a summons to the police for the allegedly unsanctioned picket, which had been held four months before. The authorities accuse the activists of organizing a picket, when Masiuk and Bedzko, together with other activists, took photographs with a poster demanding Nadeshda Savchenko’s release at the Slonim entrance, Radio Svaboda reports.

Ales Masuk told reporters that had not been to the police. He said that the pictures had been taken four months before, and there hadn’t been a picket held.

Ivan Bedzko convinced that it is nothing more than an attempt to put pressure on him and his friends during the election campaign.

“Once again they want to put pressure on us, to scare us once more. But we have nothing to fear, as we have not violated the order, have not done anything wrong, we just supported Nadeshda Savchenko, who had been illegally tried. So I told the police that the photos on the Internet, according to the law, could not be an evidence against me. They are well aware that all the time limits are over, but they still carry on pressing us.

At the same time police do not bother any of the pro-government candidates,” – the activist said.

Activist Viktar Marchyk collects signatures for the applicant to candidates from the Slonim democratic community Ivan Sheha in Slonim district. He says they have already collected a thousand signatures.

“We are standing under white-red-white flags and still some people come up to us and ask – what these flags are? Especially in the villages. Moreover, more often ask those, who lived at a time, when it was the state flag. Young people ask, too. We tell patiently the people about the history of Belarus,” – the activist said.

Marchyk adds that the town officials, and even some village residents, who work in the village councils, refuse to give their signatures for democratic candidates, as they are “not allowed to.”

In Astravets district UCP activist Mikalai Ulasevich, who has been coming out against the construction of a nuclear power plant in his district for several years, is nominated together with the chairman of the district executive committee.

Ulasevich says that they have been competitors for a long time. Once, working as a school teacher, he demanded that the chairman of the executive committee assist to pay the teachers’ salaries in time. They started to pay salaries, but Ulasevich’s contract was not renewed from the first of September, and he could not get another work as a teacher for a few years before his retirement.

Ulasevich’s initiative group member Ivan Kruk says that they hold pickets even in front of the executive committee, people come up to talk, but do not rush to give their signatures. And it's quite a different story to visit people from door to door – there are much more those who wish to give signatures. According to Kruk, many people are afraid to give their signatures openly.

“The most interesting thing is that the local newspaper has written about the registration of the district executive committee chairman and placed photos. And it has not been reported about Ulasevich’s initiative group’s registration. Ulasevich asked the editorial office to hold to equal conditions for applicants to the candidates. So we'll see how the authorities ensure the equal conditions. Now the opposite thing is more obvious.”

Iryna Davidovich from the UCP with her initiative group travel from village to village to collect signatures. She says that they usually meet people who do not have to be explained anything about the opposition.

“Today we were in Traby and I noted a very interesting thing: the people, who came to us, were saying that they knew what the opposition is struggling for, they knew the parties’ names and the leader, gave the signatures. And many of them asked: do change our life faster ...”