The number of potential candidates for the presidency of Belarus has decreased.
The head of the Belarusian Union of Officers and member of the Supreme Political Council of the Belaya Rus party, Sergei Bobrikov, announced his withdrawal from the presidential race.
His statement is cited by BELTA .
Why Bobrikov decided to refuse to participate in the elections
As Bobrikov explained, he decided to refuse to participate in the elections because after the Central Electoral Commission registered his initiative group, he began receiving requests from officers asking him to support the current head of state in the elections.
I won’t hide it from you: the decision is serious, difficult, and it wasn’t easy, ” noted the head of the Belarusian Union of Officers.
In total, the Central Election Commission registered 7 initiative groups. In addition to Bobrikov's group, the groups of Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of the RPTS Alexander Khizhnyak, the head of the main department of ideological work and youth affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee Olga Chemodanova, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus Sergei Syrankov, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus Oleg Gaidukevich and individual entrepreneur Anna Kanopatskaya were allowed to collect signatures.
The collection of signatures began on November 7 and will end on December 6. From December 7 to 21, the Central Election Commission will accept documents for registration of candidates.
Registration of candidates will take place from December 22 to 31, and pre-election campaigning will take place from January 1 to 25.
Early voting starts on January 21. The main voting day is January 26.
The Central Election Commission will establish the election results no later than February 5. The second round, if necessary, will take place no later than February 9.
