Presidential candidates debates will not be shown live but in recordings, the CEC chairman Lidia Yermoshina reported October 14. "It will be an insurance for many candidates, since not all of them are experienced media fighters, and the record will raise them higher in the voters estimation," the CEC head added.
Lidia Yermoshina believes that the debates, introduced for the candidates for the first time, will allow voters to learn the position of the contenders, their attitudes to topical issues of domestic and foreign policy. «Will it be recorded or live — it does not matter, because the voter will receive full information,» the CEC chairman said.
Lidia Yermoshina explained that participation in the televised debates is voluntary for each candidate. But if a politician refuses this possibility, he won’t be able to use the «uncommitted» half-hour of airtime, which is released for televised debates, afterwards. Each candidate can choose his televised debates opponents independently, and their speaking slots will be determined on the basis of the draw, BelTA informs.
Candidates to Get 60 Free Airtime Minutes in Primetime
Candidates for the presidency will be entitled to two 30-minute speech on television (from 19:00 to 20:00) and two 30-minute speech — on the radio (from 6:10 to 06:40), the Central Election Commission spokeswoman Nadezhda Kiseleva informed.
Contenders will be free to speak to several state media, including the First Channel of Belarusian Radio, First National Channel, the central newspaper «Narodnaya Gazeta», «Respublika «,» Zviazda «,» SB «, as well as regional newspapers.
According to the CEC head Lidia Yermoshina, presidential candidates will now be given a more convenient airtime, though earlier they were allocated to TV time from18:00 to 19:00, and the radio — from 08:00 until 09:00.
CEC Allowed the Candidates to Make 20% Mistakes in Their Income Calculations
According to the CEC decision, candidates for president of Belarus can make 20% mistake in the calculation of their gross annual income (including their relatives’ income). Data, specified in the declaration of the candidates’ income, will be checked for authenticity by the CEC, with the help of the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Taxation and other government agencies.
The absence of document data on the ownership of real estate (house, apartment, etc.) or a share in the property, the ownership of vehicles and securities will be recognized as a shortcoming, the CEC said.
The presence or absence of information on the checks «Property» ownership will not have a substantive nature. Besides, lack of information about a stolen vehicle will not be considered a serious mistake as well.
