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| - Belarusian opposition forces on Thursday announced they will run a joint election campaign next month after two opposition candidates were removed from the August presidential poll, sparking protests. Strongman Alexander Lukashenko has been president of the authoritarian state bordering the EU and Russia for 26 years and will seek a sixth term in the August election 9 poll. He will stand along with the four other remaining candidates. Analysts warned earlier that any meaningful challenge to Lukashenko would require the opposition to rally around a single candidate. The central electoral commission on Tuesday rejected the opposition candidate seen as the strongest, ex-banker Viktor Babaryko as well as another popular opposition figure, Valery Tsepkalo. This decision prompted street protests and widespread detentions with police saying around 250 people were detained nationwide. Investigators have warned some protesters could face criminal charges. The best-known opposition candidate allowed to stand is Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the wife of a popular vlogger, Sergei Tikhanovsky, who was jailed after he tried to stand himself. Her campaign team said Thursday that it would work along with those of rejected candidates Tsepkalo and Babaryko. The ex-banker Babaryko was arrested last month over suspected financial crimes and is being held in the KGB security service's prison. The opposition said they came up with the joint campaign strategy during a meeting. "We're continuing our work. Join the majority!" the statement urged voters. Tikhanovskaya, Babaryko's campaign team chief, Maria Kolesnikova, and Tsepkalo's wife Veronika posed for a photo together after the announcement, making hand gestures in the shape of a heart and a V for Victory sign. "We are uniting our efforts," they said. Their joint statement said they would urge people to turn out to vote and act as election observers. It added they would give advice on how to cast a vote in such a way that it had to be counted. The statement did not specifically urge opposition supporters to vote for Tikhanovskaya, however. Tikhanovskaya said in an interview with Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty that the idea of consolidating opposition forces came from Babaryko and Tsepkalo's teams. If elected, the opposition politicians said they would hold fresh elections and free political prisoners. tk-am/har
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