MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The elections commission in Belarus has registered 10 candidates for next month's presidential election, including authoritarian incumbent Alexander Lukashenko.
The registration closed Thursday with a record number of contenders for the post. But although that appeared to indicate growing political activity in the tightly controlled country, opinion surveys cast doubt on whether Lukashenko is in danger of losing his bid for a fourth term in office in the Dec. 19 ballot.
Lukashenko, an open admirer of the Soviet Union, has been president since 1994, a tenure marked by suppression of dissent and independent media and by assiduous courting of anti-Western leaders including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
However, his once-close relations with Russia have deteriorated in recent years and Belarus has made tentative efforts to improve relations with the West.
Opposition supporters wave EU and national white-red-white flags as they meet candidates for presidential elections after they received their registration certificates in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. (AP)
An opinion poll released in November by the Independent Institute of Social-Political and Economic Investigation found support for Lukashenko’s re-election at around 44 percent, not enough to avoid a run-off. However, the poll also found support for all other candidates totaling less than 27 percent — leaving a large portion of the electorate either undecided or unwilling to reveal their choices.
The poll was based on interviews with more than 1,500 people, the institute said.
A woman holds discs with portraits of presidential candidate Yaroslav Romanchuk, during a rally in Minsk, Belarus,Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. (AP)
Supporters of opposition presidential candidate Vladimir Nekliayev show giant copy of his presidential candidate’s identification card, after he registered as candidate for the presidential elections during a rally in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. (AP)
Central Elections Commission Chairwoman Lidiya Ermoshina, left, hands over a presidential candidate’s identification card to opposition presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, right, in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. (AP)
