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Campaigning opportunities get increasingly limited for candidates, politician says

Campaigning opportunities have been increasingly restricted for candidates with every new election, Andrey Dzmitryyew, deputy head of the "Tell the Truth!" movement, said during a campaigning rally in front of Kamarowski Rynak, a large food marketplace in Minsk, on Friday.

"We were well aware that this election would not become an exception, our expectations have proved true, we were ready for that," he said.

The politician said that the opposition movement's candidates and their campaign aides went door to door to meet voters. "When you talk to a person individually, it's easier to convince him of something," he said, adding that the activists also collected signatures in support of a proposal to hold the so-called People's Referendum. As many as 50,000 signatures have already been collected, said Mr. Dzmitryyew.

The politician noted that campaigning rallies were not very efficient. At the same time, they attract some voters' attention and may prompt them to try to learn more about the candidate or his organization, he said.

"Any opportunity should be used. If there's an opportunity to stand in the street, we should stand and talk to people," said Mr. Dzmitryyew.

The politician revealed that almost none of the movement's 107 candidates for local soviets had managed to have campaign leaflets printed because of printing plants' refusal to do so. //BelaPAN