'Lukashenka ready to betray Belarus'. Opposition demands elections with participation of Statkevich
At today’s press conference Mikalai Statkevich has announced the beginning of a public campaign which is aimed to prove that the forthcoming presidential election has been already rigged.
The press conference in Minsk was attended by the chairman of the United Civic Party Anatol Lyabedzka, the leader of movement ‘For Statehood and Independence of Belarus’ Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu and co-chairman of the organizing committee of the party ‘Belarusian Christian Democracy’ Pavel Sevyarynets, news agency BelaPAN reports.
According to Statkevich, all of them consider what is happening in the political field of Belarus as a ‘rigged election’. And this election is being rigged not in ballot papers and final protocols, but on the lists of presidential candidates, the politician said.
“In the 90s Lukashenka was ready to betray us, hand over our six regions to Russia in exchange for the main office in the Kremlin. When he grew old and realized that he had to kiss the throne in the Kremlin goodbye, he is ready to betray for a couple of billions, he is not going to defend ibelarus with lethal force… We will not allow to legitimize the election and Lukashenka as President,” Statkevich said.
“I am here to support Mikalai Statkevich as a presidential candidate. He has been a candidate since 2010,” poet and politician Nyaklyaeu said.
“It is not Tatsiana Karatkevich who is participating in this year’s election as a presidential candidate. The force that stands behind her is participating and trying to manipulate her,” Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu told Belsat TV.
“We will keep trying to make it clear to Tatsiana and ask her to go to the side of a real democracy, real people who are fighting for real freedom in this country. If this does not happen – but I hope it does, as she is a very decent person, she was simply cheated and fooled – we will assume that all these people are working on the side of the regime. And we will publicly talk about it,” Nyaklyaeu stressed.
In this situation, the best moral choice is to ‘completely ignore this show’, Statkevich stressed. “Even a boycott is too strong word for what is happening. Only fair elections can be boycotted,” he said.
“We will be carrying out a public campaign to inform Belarusians. We demand a normal democratic election. Of course, this is our final task, and it might take us years,” Statkevich added.
Despite the ban due to a criminal record, Mikalai Statkevich intends to take part in democratic elections.
“Criminals may not participate in free elections, but I’m not a criminal. The real culprit is familiar to all of us. It is him who does not have the right to participate [in elections] since he repeatedly violated the Constitution.”
