Mahilou democrats call not to vote at “elections”

The regional coalition of democratic forces urge local dwellers not to vote at the “elections”.

The Coordination Council of the Mahilou regional democratic forces coalition issued a statement on June 28. The statement says conditions for holding free elections were not created in Belarus, so the forthcoming “election” to the “house of representatives” cannot be considered to be democratic, transparent and fair. Members of the Coordination Council urged citizens of the country and dwellers on the Mahilou district with the voting right not to go to polling stations and join the democratic forces of the Mahilou district, Viasna human rights centre reports.

Yury Novikau, the head of the Coordination Council, says representatives of the regional democratic organizations will propose their candidates for the “election”:

“The regional democratic organization discuss who can be nominated as candidates. A number of candidate will be proposed by political parties, some will gather voters' signatures. I cannot say the exact number yet, because some changed their mind regarding running in the election and some decided to run only recently. I know for sure that candidates from the coalition will tell voters not to go to polling stations. We regard running in the election as participating in an information campaign to tell people the truth about the situation in the country,” Yury Novikau said.

Democratic organization of the Mahilou region are going to propose their representatives to constituency election commissions. The BPF party and movement nominate 10 people. Other democratic organizations are expected to send their members to election commissions. A total of 13 constituencies were created in the region.