Four prominent opposition politicians planning to run in parliamentary by-election in Grodno

2005-01-14 10:15:00

Minsk, 14 January. Four out of the five contenders planning to collect voter signatures to get on the ballot in a repeat election for the House of Representatives in a Grodno district represent opposition forces. As Nikolai Lozovik, secretary of the central election commission, told BelaPAN, such prominent politicians as former MPs Sergei Skrebets and Valery Frolov, Yaroslav Romanchuk, deputy leader of the United Civic Party, and Sergei Antusevich of the Belarusian Popular Front have already applied to the district election commission to have their nomination groups registered. The election official noted that the number of contenders may increase in the district as nominees also may be put forward by company staffs and political parties. The repeat election in Grodno's district, scheduled for March 20, is expected to fill the only seat in the 110-member lower chamber remaining vacant after October's poll. None of the candidates managed to win more than 50 percent of the vote in the district in October and no runoff round was announced because it was a two-person race.