Оpposition candidates in Gomel region bow out :: Charter'97 :: News

Two more opposition candidates have withdrawn from the election race in the Gomel region.These are Viktor Korniyenko and Zinaida Shumilina, members of the United Civic Party who both had run for the regional soviet.

According to Vasily Polyakov, head of the UCP regional organization, the two pulled out in protest against a ban on election rallies and attempts by local authorities to disrupt Aleksandr Milinkevich`s meetings with voters in the Gomel region. The opposition leader missed three election rallies that he had planned to attend in southern Belarus on January 6 as a vehicle in which he was riding was pulled over and detained by policemen for hours three times within a day.

Three other opposition candidates in the Gomel region withdrew from the race earlier, also citing harassment as the reason.

Mr. Polyakov said that three more candidates of the UCP, Leonid Sudalenko, Aleksandr Protsko and Nikolai Kalyuka, were set to remain in the race. The first two are seeking seats on the regional soviet. The latter is running for the city soviet.