CEC didn’t dismissed complaints of UCP activists

Six members of the United Civil Party (UCP) were rejected in printing a common propaganda booklet in the form of special issue of “Narodnaya Volya” newspaper on lawful grounds, CEC spokesman Mikalai Lazavik said at the session of the Central Election Commission in Minsk.

“MP candidates, among them Anatol Lyabedzka, Alyaksandr Dabravolski, Stanislau Bahdankevich, wanted to release not a booklet, but an special issue of “Narodnaya Volya” newspaper,” Lazavik said.

The Barysau printing house, they addressed to, has no licence for printing newspapers. It was suggested to change a form of the election booklet, but MP candidates haven’t taken any actions,” m. Lazavik explained.

He noted that “he had a sincere desire to help Anatol Lyabedzka and organise publication of election leaflets”. According to the spokesman, the Central Election Commission even agreed to violate the norm of the election code and allowed publishing of joint programmes and joint agitation leaflets of some MP candidates, Interfax reports.

CEC head Lidziya Yarmoshyna put to the vote a question of inexpediency of considering of this complaint at the CEC session. “It is great honour for us to consider the actions of a printing house. We are not emergency ambulance, all questions should be prepared and studied, but this matter is not prepared for consideration” she said, adding that this complaint of the UCP leader was a ground for a 2loud political statement” for him.

Lyabedzka and 5 Minsk candidates said they might withdraw from lection campaign

It should be reminded that UCP head Anatol Lyabedzka and 5 Minsk candidates said they might withdraw from the election campaign, as the press service of the United Civil Party informs. They sent an appropriate statement to the Central election Commission on September 16.

As Anatol Lyabedzka said, it is caused by the fact that printing houses refuse to print agitation materials for UCP candidates, among them Stanislau Bahdankevich, Alyaksandr Dabravolski, Valyantina Palyavikova, Hanna Yahorava, and Katsyaryna Malasaeva.

“All our attempts to order in formation materials in Minsk printing houses and enterprises Krasnaya Zvreda, Remark, Unifleks, Ptakha, Znamenie failed. Refusal was caused allegedly by technical problems,” Anatol Lyabedzka said.

UCP candidates received denies from Barysau printing houses, too. After a time, printing houses in Barysau agreed, but “put such timeframes, that didn’t allow acquaint the electorate with the information”, candidates are forbidden to print election materials in Russia.

Anatol Lyabedzka called the situation with printing election material “scandalous”. “Voters from 6 constituencies, 380,000 people, have received information about Lukashenka’s candidates, but have no opportunities to get materials about the opposition candidates,” he emphasised. “At the same time Ms Yarmoshyna says about unprecedented concessions in printing UCP materials, but it doesn’t correspond with the reality. So, we had to deliver an ultimatum to the Central Election Commission.”

Candidates address the CEC asking to “respond urgently and help in publication the printed materials”. “In other case we will have to consider a q1uestion on our withdrawal from election,” the statement says.