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Tatsyana Karatkevich set to collect 120,000 ballot-access signatures

The nomination group of Tatsyana Karatkevich plans to collect 120,000 signatures for her registration as a presidential candidate, Andrey Dzmitryyew, chairman of the “Tell the Truth!” movement who is Ms. Karatkevich’s campaign chief, told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday.

Mr. Dzmitryyew expressed confidence that Ms. Karatkevich could gather the required 100,000 valid ballot-access signatures despite widespread skepticism about the ability of any opposition presidential contender to meet the requirement. A majority of the skeptics have never collected 10 signatures for the installation of a door phone in their apartment buildings let alone for someone’s registration as a presidential candidate, he said.

Apart from the central headquarters in Minsk, Ms. Karatkevich already has seven regional and 10 provincial campaign offices, Mr. Dzmitryyew said. Her nomination group plans to gather about 40,000 signatures during street events and 80,000 signatures during door-to-door visits, he said. The group will rely on the signature database created within the framework of the People’s Referendum campaign, he added.

Speaking about authorities’ decision to hold then election on October 11, more than a month earlier than initially expected, Mr. Dzmitryyew said that the election date had been moved forward to make it more difficult for opposition contenders to collect the necessary number of signatures. “This means that we’ll have to be gathering signatures in August,” he said. “People will simply be going about their business, sowing and harvesting at their summer houses. Houses in cities will be standing empty, and we’ll have to be actively talking to people on streets and visiting agro-towns as we gather signatures.” // BelaPAN