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Presidential hopeful Ramanchuk challenges Lukashenka to dispute about future of Belarus

Liberal economist Yaraslaw Ramanchuk, who on September 23 applied to the central election commission for registering his nomination group for the December 19 presidential election, said in an interview with BelaPAN that for him, his participation in the election would be a continuation of a dispute with Alyaksandr Lukashenka, whom he considers his only opponent in the race, about the future of Belarus.

“This is a fundamental dispute about whether Belarus will be an open country or it will remain in self-isolation; whether it will move towards political and economic reforms or it will continue to stagnate and turn into a third-world country,” said the 44-year-old deputy chairman of the United Civic Party. “I believe we have every opportunity and the potential to win this election and return Belarus to the path of democratic development and a market economy.”

According to Mr. Ramanchuk, his nomination group has more than 1,500 members, with the oldest one being 82 years of age. “My team is ready for the collection of [ballot-access] signatures and a very dynamic campaign based on new principles,” he said.

“Since the party has chapters in all regions, there were no problems with the formation of the nomination group. The only thing is that this work was slightly more difficult in the Vitsyebsk region,” Mr. Ramanchuk said. “Small cities are also represented in our group. On the whole, our group will collect signatures in 32 cities but, naturally, this work will take place in other localities, including rural areas.”

“We aren’t going to take names from a telephone directory and will be honestly collecting signatures from among people,” he said. “By the way, I’m a member of my own nomination group and will collect signatures in Minsk and other regions.”