Belarus' central election commission received documents Thursday for the registration of an initiative group that would nominate Zenon Poznyak as a presidential candidate, Commission Secretary Sergei Popkov said Thursday.
According to Popkov, Belarussian law requires presidential contenders to have lived in the country for at least 10 years before elections. He said the issue would have to be studied.
The commission is expected to make decisions on initiative groups that will be raising signatures in support of their candidates after December 23.
Presidential elections in Belarus are slated for March 19, 2006.
Incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, ruling the country since 1994, announced his intention to run for a third term in October. A 2004 referendum abolished the Belarusian constitution's clause limiting the head of state to two consecutive terms.
