Vitsebsk: does only Lukashenka’s electoral program deserve front pages?
The state-owned
newspaper Vitsebski Rabochy seems to
know nothing about the fact that all presidential candidates must have equal
conditions for canvassing.
According to an appropriate decision of the Central Election Commission, this
newspaper is charged with the publication of the electoral programs of
presidential candidates.
The electoral program of Aliaksandr Lukashenka was published first and occupied
the whole front page of the newspaper issue for 27 November 2010. There’s also
a large photo of Lukashenka.
The next issue presented to the readers the electoral programs of some of the
other candidates: Yaraslau Ramanchuk and Dzmitry Us. The both programs were
printed in one page (of course, it is not the front cover).
Moreover, when Aliaksei Haurutsikau, a proxy of one more candidate, Mikalai
Statkevich, came to the editorial office of the newspaper with the electoral
program, he was warned that it wouldn’t be published in the front cover. ‘It
means that Vitsebski Rabochy gives us
reasons to complain to the Central Election Commission, as all candidates must
have equal rights,’ commented Mr. Haurutsikau.
Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections
In the photo: the electoral program of Lukashenka in the front page (on the
left) and the electoral programs of Yaraslau Ramanchuk and Dzmitry Us in the
second page (on the right).
