Brest: K. Sumar supports equal opportunities for all candidates and exclusion of forced early voting

Kanstantsin Sumar is the head of Brest regional executive committee. At the recent meeting of the Brest regional executive committee Presidium and the Regional Council, dedicated to approval of district election commissions, he said: “We have set our main goal for this election – it is to carry it out in the most open way, strictly within the framework of the election law and the Constitution of our country, and to make them the most transparent. We will do everything possible in order to observe the law, in order to receive and satisfy all applications and proposals which will be coming from NGOs and political parties, as well as from candidates.

No way should we look for reasons to get rid of a candidate, if they have not committed any criminal economic offences. We will close our eyes on minor things and will not make far-reaching conclusions. I would like everyone present in the room to understand: we should not nitpick on candidates. In other words, we should give maximum registration opportunities for everyone who wants to run for Parliament.

We should everything what is necessary to create optimal conditions of lawfulness and discipline in polling stations, and equal opportunities for all candidates.

I don’t know about the situation in Brest region, but there were many examples of election violations from all over the country in the press. Our objective is to make everything what is needed that all candidates have equal opportunities in preparation of their campaign materials. We will prepare a document which regulates timely preparation of ballot papers and flyers for all candidates, without dividing them into the “right-winged” and “left-winged”.

No way should we stimulate people to vote early. As the President of the Republic of Belarus A. Lukashenka pointed out, earlier citizens were forced to vote early. We should not allow that any more”.

“Human Rights Activists for Free Elections”