Elections Will Be Alternative in Big Towns Alone :: Charter'97 :: News

This conclusion can be drawn from the information, voiced on January 22 by the chairwoman of the Central Electoral Committee Lydia Ermoshina. In Minsk there are six candidates for one mandate, while competition for the seats in the regional councils is significantly lower – two persons per seat. At all other levels, for the exception of large towns, elections will practically present no alternative. According to Ermoshina, the average number of nominees for one mandate constitutes 1,1.

In district councils 4795 candidates are competing for 4252 mandates, while in the towns of the district subordination – 215 and 294 accordingly. In total, only 26567 people nominated themselves for 24012 deputies’ seats.

According to Lydia Ermoshina, all opposition political parties combined nominated approximately 850 candidates: Liberal-democrats – 329, Party of communists – 208, United Civil party – 130, Social-democrats (Narodnaya Gromada) – 103, Belarusian Popular Front – 76. However, this makes only 4% of the total number of candidates.