The central election commission on October 2 dismissed a complaint by presidential hopeful Tatsyana Karatkevich about what she sees as an illegal form of campaigning for incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in the October 11 presidential poll.
According to Karatkevich, Belarus’s state-run media are campaigning for Lukashenka by unlawfully using the general logo of the 2015 presidential election.
«This is a disguised form of campaigning by the state-run media for one of the candidates,» Karatkevich wrote in her complaint.
Karatkevich also indicated that T-shirts featuring the logo and Lukashenka’s campaign slogan, «For the Future of Independent Belarus!,» had gone on sale in Minsk. Although the production of the T-shirts and the use of Lukashenka’s logos are a form of campaigning and require funds, no money has been withdrawn from Lukashenka’s campaign fund, she said, citing the central election commission’s website.
The central election commission also rejected a request from Karatkevich that the TV and radio time slots Lukashenka declined to use be given to her. Lukashenka himself had earlier offered these media slots to his rivals.
