Registration of UCP Candidates Jeopardized

During its September 25 session the Central Election Commission found a document that made it postpone consideration of Zinaida Bandarenka’s appeal. The commission received a fax message from the Ministry of Justice which said that UCP congress nominating Bandarenka was not legitimate.

Deputy Minister of Justice Valery Mitskevich, who is also a CEC member, was surprised by such fax message from the Ministry. He said it was merely a piece of paper and not an official document. However, CEC had to postpone consideration of Zinaida Bandarenka’s case until Wednesday in order to study the situation.

If the Ministry really recognized UCP congress illegitimate, other candidates nominated by the party will suffer. UCP representative Mikhail Pliska says all documents were submitted to the Ministry on Thursday, and one day cannot be enough to come to such a conclusion.