Hundreds of people protested in Belarus on Tuesday after the central election commission refused to register the two main rivals of president Alexander Lukashenko as candidates in the August 9 election.
Police detained several dozen people who took to the streets in the capital Minsk to protest the move. Lukashenko, who has led the country since 1994, is running for his sixth term in the presidential election.
The commission said that Viktor Babariko was excluded from the ballot because of a criminal case against him. Babariko stepped down as CEO to the Russian-owned Belgazprombank to run against Lukashenko, but was arrested last month together with his son Eduard and 15 executives as part of a tax evasion and money-laundering probe. Belarusian authorities took control of the bank. Babariko says the arrests are politically motivated.
Valery Tsepkalo, a former ambassador who runs an office park for tech companies, was also rejected, after signatures on a supporting petition were nullified.
The two men had been seen as the last candidates left with a chance of defeating Lukashenko. Analysts say that none of the remaining candidates pose a threat to the current president.
The European Union on Tuesday called the decision to deny Babariko and Tsepkalo spots on the ballot “seemingly arbitrary”. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borell said that it “limits the possibility for the Belarusian people to express their will and already undermines the overall integrity and democratic nature of the elections”.
The EU has repeatedly criticised Belarusian authorities for flawed elections and stifling the opposition. Last year’s parliamentary election excluded the opposition, with all 110 parliament seats going to former government functionaries, diplomats and members of pro-government parties.
