MOSCOW, November 1. /TASS/. External interference in the upcoming presidential election in Belarus in January 2025 is very possible, Nikolay Mezhevich, the head of the Center for Belarusian Studies at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences has told TASS.
"I think that attempts at external interference, attempts to stage some kind of street protests are very possible," he believes.
November 1 in Belarus is the deadline for submitting documents for the registration of initiative groups that will be collecting signatures of voters in support of the nomination of presidential candidates. The CEC registered a group for nominating the incumbent president, Alexander Lukashenko, as a candidate under number one. The Commission has also registered groups for nominating the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Oleg Gaidukevich, chairman of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice, Alexander Khizhnyak, and head of the main department of ideological work and youth affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee, Olga Chemodanova. Several more applications will be considered on Monday.
"The proposed candidates are patriots and will not do harm to their own people and the state," said the expert.
Mezhevich pointed out that "there is no doubt that the incumbent head of state, Alexander Lukashenko will win the presidential race."
"It remains to be seen what margin of votes," he added.
The collection of voters' signatures in support of the nomination of presidential candidates in Belarus will begin on November 7 and will last until December 6. The validity of the submitted signatures will be checked within ten days. The registration of presidential candidates will be held from December 22 to 31. To register a candidate it is necessary to collect at least 100,000 signatures. The presidential election will be held on January 26, 2025.