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Up to 40 activists of Belarusian Popular Front to seek access to ballot in parliamentary elections

The Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) plans to put forward 30 to 40 BPF members for registration as a candidate in the forthcoming House of Representatives elections.

The veteran opposition party’s participation in the parliamentary campaign was on the agenda of a meeting held by the BPF Council in Minsk on April 29.

Among those who will seek access to the ballot are BPF Chairman Alyaksey Yanukevich and Deputy Chairman Ryhor Kastusyow. Some 20 BPF activists more confirmed their intention to run in the elections.

Speaking at the Council’s meeting, Mr. Kastusyow said that the party’s election team had already been set up to produce campaign material and make preparations for BPF candidates` appearance on television, he said.

According to Mr. Yanukevich, representatives of the coalition of six,” which includes, apart from the BPF, the United Civic Party, the "Spravedlivy Mir" (Just World) Belarusian Party of the Left, Belarusian Christian Democracy, the "Tell the Truth!" movement and the Movement for Freedom, will hold consultations next week to discuss work on a joint message that pro-democratic candidates could send to the votes.

“It will be difficult to come up with a joint message as the participation scenarios differ, with some planning to boycott the election campaign and some planning to stay in the race until its end,” said Mr. Yanukevich.

The BPF Council decided in late January that the party would take part in the parliamentary elections. But the Council said that BPF candidates would withdraw before the voting if political prisoners continued to be jailed and BPF representatives were denied access to local election commissions. //BelaPAN