Belarus parliament elections

MINSK, 7 July (BelTA) - The district election commissions have received 396 applications for registration of initiative groups to collect signatures in support of prospective candidates to deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the sixth convocation, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission Lidia Yermoshina told media ahead of a seminar for members of the district elections commissions of Minsk Oblast, BelTA has learned.

According to Lidia Yermoshina, 7 July was the deadline for submitting applications to register initiative groups with district election commissions. “As of now 396 applications have been filed. A total of 256 initiative groups have been registered. It does not mean, however, that all the others will be denied. Many applications are currently under consideration,” the CEC head said.

In her words, a big part of initiative groups was registered by citizens with no party affiliation. 91 groups were registered by party representatives. Three opposition political parties, namely the United Civil Party, A Just World and the Belarusian Popular Fund were the most active, the CEC head noted. “Despite the fact that they can nominate candidates at their party meetings, they are actively registering initiative groups, which shows their serious intent,” stressed Lidia Yermoshina.

The Chairperson of the Central Election Commission also said that representatives of other parties filed their applications for the registration of initiative groups and reached the goal. Among them are members of the Communist Party of Belarus, the National Labor and Justice Party. Lidia Yermoshina also believes that the nomination of candidates for the House of Representatives from political parties will be mainly held on party meetings.