May 9 this year will become for Belarus a new value. It is not only the Victory Day, which, despite the pandemic coronavirus, will be held with a parade and festivities, but also the start of the presidential campaign. This became known today when the Parliament approved the election date of 9 August. This decision left little room for oppositional candidates.The Belarusian authorities decided on the election date. If President Alexander Lukashenko claimed only that they will be held in the summer and “the end of August — the deadline”, now the Parliament of the Republic issued a final decision. To open polling stations exactly 9 Aug MPs suggested that the CEC of Belarus. “In principle, it was developed a unified opinion on the election on 9 August,”— said before the vote, the head of the CEC Lidia Yermoshina.One of the reasons for this choice became known almost immediately. Ms. Yarmoshyna noted that if the vote is scheduled for August 9, the “tomorrow, the Day of the great Victory, will begin the General election campaign in the country.” This is due to the fact that the preparations for the elections have traditionally been three months. “It is also symbolic, in a certain respect consistent with the spirit and letter in procedure of elections of the President”,— commented on the coincidence of the beginning of the campaign on the occasion of Ms. Yarmoshyna. According to the head of the CEC, the elections will be held “in special circumstances” due to the ongoing pandemic coronavirus. For example, the collectors of signatures will be required to wear “personal protective equipment” and “meetings of the regional, district, city Executive committees when considering matters related to elections, will be held without observers, representatives of parties, public associations,” but with a stream on the Internet. In addition, Ms. Yarmoshyna are unable to answer the question of whether the elections by international observers.Deputy Andrei Savinykh told media portal Tut.by explained the choice of voting day not as Lidia Yermoshina. According to him, later options have violated the legal terms for a second round.The second round in his long political career happened only once — in 1994 when he was elected President of the country for the first time. Participation in the sixth race, Mr. Lukashenko said in November last year. While he hinted at the possibility of a seventh presidential term, which should come in 2025-2030 years. “Lord, I may, 2025 will not live! God forbid, of course, want to live — children W small. So you must come and say, “Run, please, because we want our children quietly walked the streets.” If you do not ask, I will never withdraw his candidacy,” ��he seemed then.The Victory day has become a good background for the start of the election campaign of Alexander Lukashenko. Unlike all the other countries who celebrate this holiday, Belarus was the only not to abandon its traditional parade, which should come thousands of people. This decision has already caused concern of the world health organization, which recommended the authorities not to hold mass protests in the period of the pandemic. However, the call was heard only in part — the Minsk city authorities refused to hold the “Immortal regiment”.Meanwhile, the Belarusian political analyst Artiom shraibman considers the coincidence of the start of the campaign on the Victory Day secondary factor. “The primary reason is the desire to reduce the time for submission of documents to the other candidates”,— he said “Kommersant”. According to the electoral code of Belarus (.pdf), a presidential candidate can be nominated by an initiative group consisting of at least 100 people who then have to collect at least 100 thousand signatures. In this case, register the initiative group must be submitted no later than 85 days before election day, ie until may 15. “Many candidates simply do not have time to collect the group, and one of many opposition bloggers, Sergey tikhonovskiy, which could participate in the campaign, and is serving a sentence of 15 days imprisonment,— said Mr. shraibman.— Another reason — the desire to hold elections in a period of minimal activity. Students are still not back from vacation, people will relax in the cottages. Maybe there are some polls indicating that, Lukashenka’s ratings are low”.The complexity of registration of the initiative group to 15 may, “Kommersant” said the Chairman of movement “Civil consent” Artem Agafonov, representing the Pro-Russian opposition. According to him, while the possible candidate of this wing is unknown, but “possible surprise”.The only opposition Deputy of the previous convocation of the Belarusian Parliament Anna Konopacka (in the current convocation of the opposition not at all) commented on the decision of the Parliament hard enough. “The rapidly deteriorating situation in the country forces the dictatorship to frantically search for the path to legalization for another term,” said Ms. Konopacka “b”. Nevertheless, she confirmed the intention to participate in elections. “I am not guided by the desire to make someone competition. I am a full-fledged political campaign in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus with the sole purpose — to win.” Earlier, Mrs. Konopacka was going to become a single candidate from the Belarusian opposition, however, did not find sufficient support from other politicians.”They planned only to use the time to ��of registrazii candidates for protests. That is to register the initiative group for a month to appear on the streets under the guise of collecting signatures and then just drop out of the race,”— said the expert. In his opinion, such tactics will further reduce the range of possible opponents of Alyaksandr Lukashenka to secure for him the figures.Kirill Krivosheev
