In this picture taken on Wednesday, May 26, 2020, Valery Tsepkalo, a potential candidate in the upcoming presidential election, smiles in Minsk, Belarus. The central elections commission in Belarus has rejected a top challenger's bid to run against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in this summer's election. Tsepkalo, a former ambassador to the United States and a founder of a successful high-technology park, submitted 160,000 signatures on petitions to get on the ballot for the Aug. 9 election, but the commission said only 75,000 were valid less than the 100,000 needed.(AP Photo/Sergei Grits)Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko delivers his speech during an opening ceremony of the monument to the World War II Red Army, in the village of Khoroshevo, just outside Rzhev, about 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) northwest of Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)In this picture taken on Wednesday, May 26, 2020, Valery Tsepkalo, a potential candidate in the upcoming presidential election, smiles as his wife Veronica looks on in Minsk, Belarus. The central elections commission in Belarus has rejected a top challenger's bid to run against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in this summer's election. Tsepkalo, a former ambassador to the United States and a founder of a successful high-technology park, submitted 160,000 signatures on petitions to get on the ballot for the Aug. 9 election, but the commission said only 75,000 were valid less than the 100,000 needed. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)In this picture taken on Wednesday, May 26, 2020, Valery Tsepkalo, a potential candidate in the upcoming presidential election, gestures as he speaks to media in Minsk, Belarus. The central elections commission in Belarus has rejected a top challenger's bid to run against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in this summer's election. Tsepkalo, a former ambassador to the United States and a founder of a successful high-technology park, submitted 160,000 signatures on petitions to get on the ballot for the Aug. 9 election, but the commission said only 75,000 were valid less than the 100,000 needed.(AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
In this picture taken on Wednesday, May 26, 2020, Valery Tsepkalo, a potential candidate in the upcoming presidential election, smiles in Minsk, Belarus. The central elections commission in Belarus has rejected a top challenger's bid to run against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in this summer's election. Tsepkalo, a former ambassador to the United States and a founder of a successful high-technology park, submitted 160,000 signatures on petitions to get on the ballot for the Aug. 9 election, but the commission said only 75,000 were valid less than the 100,000 needed.(AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
MINSK – The central elections commission in Belarus has rejected a top challenger’s bid to run against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in this summer’s election.
The commision’s decision Tuesday to bar Valery Tsepkalo from the ballot removes any serious competition for Lukashenko, who has stifled opposition and news media during a quarter-century in power.
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Tsepkalo, a former ambassador to the United States and a founder of a successful high-technology park, submitted 160,000 signatures on petitions to get on the ballot for the Aug. 9 election, but the commission said only 75,000 were valid — less than the 100,000 needed.
Another strong challenger, former banker Viktor Babariko, has been jailed and is facing charges of money-laundering.
Popular opposition blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky has been jailed on charges of attacking a police officer. Tikhanovksy's wife, who was running for president, has suspended her campaign.
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