Minsk, 5 February. As many as 693 out of the 1,033 nominees fielded by political parties have been registered as candidates in the local elections, Lidiya Yermoshina, head of the central election commission, told reporters in Minsk on February 5.

The highest registration denial rate was among representatives of the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus (LDPB), as election commissions registered only 184 out of the 329 nominees, Ms. Yermoshina said.

According to her, the most typical reason for registration denials to LDPB members was the lack of the party's registered organizations in the areas where the nominees planned to be on the ballot. In addition, many LDPB members failed to state correct information in their income and property statements, Ms. Yermoshina said.

Election commissions registered nine out of the 21 nominees of the Social Democratic Party of People's Concord, 54 (130) of the United Civic Party, 50 (76) of the Belarusian Popular Front, 69 (103) of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party "Narodnaya Hramada," 114 (141) of the Communist Party of Belarus, and 173 (208) of the Belarusian Party of Communists. All nominees of the Agrarian Party (7), the Belarusian Party of Labor (4) and the Social Sports Party (2) were registered. Election commissions denied registration to all people fielded by the Belarusian Women's Party "Nadzeya." The reason, according to Ms. Yermoshina, was irregularities in the nomination procedure.

In general, 25,805 out of 26,567 nominees were registered as candidates, said Ms. Yermoshina. This number may rise slightly, as election commissions are considering several dozen complaints from rejected nominees, she said.

The highest registration denial rate was in regional capitals and in Minsk. Election commissions registered 74 percent of the nominees for regional soviets and 165 out of the 305 nominees, or 54.1 percent, for the Minsk City Soviet.

More than half (51 percent) of the registered candidates were elected to soviets before. Women account for 42.5 percent of the candidates and people aged below 30 for 7.6 percent. Among the candidates are all incumbent chairpersons of the regional and Minsk city soviets, Ms. Yermoshina noted.