白俄羅斯選舉委員會允許7名忠於盧卡申科的政治人物競選他

統治該國30多年的盧卡申科在對反對派和自由媒體進行無情鎮壓後正在尋求第七個任期。

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus’ election commission on Monday allowed seven politicians to start collecting signatures to run against President Alexander Lukashenko in January's election, in an apparent bid to create a semblance of competition to the longtime authoritarian ruler.

愛沙尼亞塔林（美聯社）—白俄羅斯選舉委員會週一允許七名政界人士開始收集簽名，以在一月份的選舉中與總統亞歷山大·盧卡申科競選，顯然是為了與這位長期獨裁統治者形成競爭。

Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for more than 30 years, is seeking a seventh term following a relentless crackdown on the opposition and free media.

統治該國30多年的盧卡申科在對反對派和自由媒體進行無情鎮壓後正在尋求第七個任期。

The election, scheduled for Jan. 26, would come 4 1/2 years after the 2020 presidential vote that was rejected by the opposition and the West as rigged with fraud and triggered massive nationwide protests. Belarusian authorities responded to the demonstrations with a sweeping crackdown on dissent, resulting in about 65,000 people arrested.

這次選舉定於 1 月 26 日舉行，距 2020 年總統選舉 4.5 年舉行，該選舉被反對派和西方國家否決，認為存在舞弊行為，並引發了全國範圍內的大規模抗議。白俄羅斯當局對示威活動進行了全面鎮壓異議人士，導致約 65,000 人被捕。

Major opposition figures were either imprisoned or fled the country in the crackdown. Human rights activists say Belarus now holds about 1,300 political prisoners and that many of them are denied adequate medical care and contact with their families.

主要反對派人士在鎮壓中要么被監禁，要么逃離該國。人權活動人士表示，白俄羅斯目前關押著約 1,300 名政治犯，其中許多人無法獲得足夠的醫療護理，也無法與家人聯繫。

Lukashenko has relied on subsidies and political support from his main ally, Russia, to survive the protests. He allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

盧卡申科依靠其主要盟友俄羅斯的補貼和政治支持來度過抗議活動。他允許莫斯科於 2022 年 2 月使用白俄羅斯領土向烏克蘭派遣軍隊。

Last week, Belarus' Central Election Commission registered an initiative group for Lukashenko to prepare for the race. On Monday, it also permitted seven politicians to begin collecting signatures to be able to run, including Sergei Syrankov of the Communist Party, Oleg Gaidukevich, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, and former Interior Ministry spokeswoman Olga Chеmоdanova.

上週，白俄羅斯中央選舉委員會為盧卡申科註冊了一個倡議小組，為競選做準備。週一，該法案還允許七名政界人士開始收集競選簽名，包括共產黨的謝爾蓋·西蘭科夫、自由民主黨領導人奧列格·蓋杜克維奇和前內政部發言人奧爾加·切莫達諾娃。

“Those are alternative candidates, and I believe they just want to safeguard the incumbent,” Lukashenko said of his aspiring token challengers.

「這些都是替代候選人，我相信他們只是想保護現任者，」盧卡申科在談到他有抱負的象徵性挑戰者時說道。

Each of the candidates is required to collect at least 100,000 signatures until Dec. 6 to enter the race.

每位候選人必須在 12 月 6 日之前收集至少 10 萬個簽名才能參加競選。

Last week, the commission refused to register initiative groups for two opposition politicians who aspired to enter the race.

上週，該委員會拒絕為兩名渴望參加競選的反對派政治人物註冊倡議團體。

“There are candidates, but no competition in this election,” said Valery Karbalevich, an independent political analyst. “Lukashenko fears a replay of the 2020 protests, his trauma is still fresh and so he will carry out the vote in a format when the result is predetermined.”

「這次選舉有候選人，但沒有競爭，」獨立政治分析師瓦列裡·卡爾巴列維奇說。 「盧卡申科擔心2020年的抗議活動重演，他的創傷仍然歷歷在目，因此他將在結果確定後以某種形式進行投票。”

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is in exile after challenging Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, denounced January's vote as a farce and urged Belarusians to vote against all candidates.

在2020 年總統選舉中挑戰盧卡申科後流亡的斯維亞特蘭娜·齊哈努斯卡婭(Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya) 譴責1 月份的投票是一場鬧劇，並敦促白俄羅斯人投票反對所有候選人。

“We are offering people to voice their protest by voting against all those who are robbing us of our right to vote,” said Tsikhanouskaya, whose husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski is serving a 19 1/2-year prison sentence after trying to run against Lukashenko. “This is not an election but an imitation of an electoral process held amid terror when alternative candidates and observers aren't allowed.”

「我們讓人們透過投票反對所有那些剝奪我們投票權的人來表達他們的抗議，」齊哈努斯卡婭說。正在服19 1/2 年的監禁。 “這不是一場選舉，而是在不允許其他候選人和觀察員的情況下，在恐怖氣氛下進行的選舉過程的模仿。”

During February's parliamentary and local elections, in which only candidates loyal to Lukashenko were allowed to compete, Belarus for the first time also refused to invite observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to monitor the vote.

在二月的議會和地方選舉中，只有忠於盧卡申科的候選人才能參加選舉，白俄羅斯也首次拒絕邀請歐洲安全與合作組織觀察員監督投票。