January 27, 2006
BELARUSIAN PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDER REFUSES TO SUBMIT BALLOT SIGNATURES.
Exiled Belarusian politician Zyanon Paznyak announced in an online conference hosted by RFE/RL's Belarus Service website (http://www.svaboda.org) on 26 January that he is not going to submit the signatures his nomination group collected to place him on the ballot for the 19 March presidential vote to the Central Election Commission. According to Paznyak, by warning him on 18 January against early electioneering , the commission led him to understand that he will not be registered as a presidential candidate. "In such a situation, we are not going to do futile work -- preparing and checking the lists of signatures, submitting them to the commission, etc. -- in order to become pawns in their game and get spit in our face," Paznyak said. He claimed his nomination group had collected 130,000-135,000 signatures in his support, thus exceeding the minimum 100,000 necessary for registration. The collection of signatures for presidential contenders ends on 27 January; the Central Election Commission should made registration decisions no later than 21 February.
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