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Homyel regional TV network chooses not to broadcast address by opposition parliamentary candidate

A television address to voters by Vasil Palyakow, an opposition parliamentary candidate in Homyel, was not broadcast on Tuesday evening for an unknown reason.

"The recording session went well, no one made any complaints or warned me that the Homyel regional television network would not broadcast my address," said Mr. Palyakow, chairman of the regional organization of the United Civic Party (UCP). "However, what happened was predictable after the central election commission's decision not to allow a number of UCP candidates on air."

The authorities' nervous reaction to calls for boycotting the House of Representatives elections is understandable, Mr. Palyakow said. "Never have voters been so uninterested in elections," he explained. "Few people plan to cast their ballots anyway. To make things worse, opposition activists are calling for a boycott. That's why the authorities have decided to nip everything in the bud."

While speaking in the television studio, parliamentary candidates had blue, red, yellow and green beams flashing behind their backs, apparently to liven up the atmosphere. In-between their addresses, the television network broadcast video clips that promoted pro-government candidates without mentioning their names. In particular, an address by Valery Zhmaylik, director general of farm machinery company VA Homselmash, was preceded by a video about the company's accomplishments. An address by Mikhail Pachynok, director of Homyel Heat Networks, a subsidiary of the regional power utility, got off to a flying start with a video about his company. "Even in crisis years, Homyel residents have never felt a lack of heat in their apartments," the video said.

Mikalay Lazavik, secretary of the central election commission, told BelaPAN on Tuesday that addresses to voters in which parliamentary candidates called for boycotting the forthcoming House of Representatives elections would not be broadcast.