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Mikalai Statkevich: I Will Not Give My Constitutional Right To Participate In Elections To Anyone

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Mikalai Statkevich: I Will Not Give My Constitutional Right To Participate In Elections To Anyone
Mikalai Statkevich

Lukashenka is afraid of the opposition leader’s participation in the elections.

Leader of the Belarusian National Congress Mikalai Statkevich told this in an interview to Belsat. Charter97.org is offering for your attention the shorthand report of the air. - The elections are coming, so the opposition has started active preparation. How do democratic candidates plan to defend Belarus from the Kremlin? What do Belarusians do when they hear someone mentioning their state leader? The representatives of the Belarusian National Congress answered these and other questions during the press-conference. Let us hear one of the participants of the meeting, ex-presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov. - It’s us, we and you, Belarusians, who protect our independence today. It’s the Square that protects independence. The Square-2001, the Square-2006, the Square-2010, the year 2011, 2017, and 2018, when people took to the streets regardless of the police batons. Our independence was protected even before there was Putin. Dzmitry Bandarenka is here, the man who disregarded the riot police batons and protested back in 1996 and 1998, when agreements with Russia were signed. The people blocked the central avenue and it worked. Back then, Boris Yeltsin was the Russian President, today more drastic measures are needed. How could the trade for the support of the regime in the Kremlin and Sochi ever be called “protection of independence?” This is trade, bringing dividends to the criminals at power. That’s it.

- We have in our studio today two more former presidential candidates: Uladzimir Niakliayeu and Mikalai Statkevich. You have just said that democratic forces can lead Belarus today. Tell us, was there a similar situation back in 2010? Mikalai Statkevich: Many things weren’t observed in 2010. Including such dramatic situation with the independent mass media. That is why I would like to start our meeting with the words of gratitude and admiration for the bravery of the Belsat and Charter’97 journalists, who are fighting for the Belarusian informational field. These people stand against both Moscow and the regime’s manipulations. Now the situation, unfortunately, appears dramatic. We see how once independent media are becoming re-broadcasters of the position of the regime. At merits, they abide the commands of their supervisors, when concrete names are not voiced, certain people are not given the floor directly. Today you showed materials from the press-conference, we were given the opportunity to say it out loud, that Charter’97 organized this meeting. And I am surprised when I browse the Radio Svaboda website and there, with a reference to Euroradio, there is absolutely unverified information that I, as a presidential candidate from the Belarusian National Congress, am ready to give up to some candidate from the center-right coalition because of some kind of pending criminal record. This is a conscious manipulation. I address to the management of Radio Svaboda and Euroradio. I understand your situation, that you need an office, that you need to get salaries, which seem quite big for Belarus. And you also want not to get into such a situation, in which Ales Bialiatski, Henadz Fiadynich and Ihar Komlik found themselves, for this. I understand everything, but you have some other mission. And when you are already engaged in a conscious manipulation of an independent society, using your previous authority, your predecessors, who for decades carried the word of freedom to Belarus (I mean Radio Svaboda...) You are people without conscience. I understand that you have excuses. Every person, no matter what disgusting things they do, when a rat does the ratting out - they always find excuses to justify themselves. Now it is easy to find an excuse: “We help Lukashenka, because he is the guarantor of independence.” I guess we’ve hit the rock-bottom! Now I hope you convey my direct position. I am the most authoritative politician in the country now, also thanks to the nomination by the BNC and the fact that my colleagues added up their ratings, and, to some extent, their authority. I have the highest rating among the Belarusian opposition politicians. Even now, without any elections, without any promotion, I’m ready to win this election over Lukashenka, if it’s fair election. And I don’t intend to give my constitutional and moral right to participate in this election to someone and just give it up! Me, and those people, hundreds of thousands, millions who support me. We will fight for this right! I also address to Lukashenka. If you are such a cool, such a responsible patriot, with such great prestige in the Belarusian society, then why are you so afraid for our fragile state? You’ve been building something for 25 years and it turned out fragile? If you are afraid for this fragility and want everything to be stable, then clear your criminal record. I will not say who is the real criminal here. And let's meet at fair elections. This is my message to Lukashenka. I hope that Radio Svaboda this time will convey my words directly. - You said there are two options for Belarus: revolution or annexation. And that Lukashenka will choose the latter. Maybe, there is some compromise variant? Uladzimir Niakliayeu : No, there has been no compromise today. At our press-conference, first of all, we spoke about this threat. There was the background, who the candidate would be there and how it would all line up. But for some reason, there has been no interest to the fateful question: will we remain as a country, as a state? In fact, Belarus is already being sold at an auction. For the three days in Sochi and two days in the Kremlin - even I don’t have so much time to spend on skating and skiing - only one thing was discussed: the surrender of Belarus to Moscow. That is why all are silent. All storytellers, both from the state-owned media and storytellers from the circles that can be attributed to independent sources, are trying to reassure: “Nothing’s going to happen! And if it does, then we have the head of state, the only guarantor! ” Listen, this is an absolutely real threat! We know this and constantly tell about it. The real threat that the head of the country, this very “guarantor”, is facing this threat lying down! Lying under the burden of the policy that he has pursued throughout all the years of his rule. And we are looking for an options on how to avoid it. When they tell us: “You tried to do this in 2010, and someone else did it before. So why do you want to repeat it? ”We do not want to repeat any slaughter. We say: give us equal conditions at this election. And why do we need equal conditions? We will also directly answer: in order to remove the current political regime, which created the conditions for the annexation of Belarus, from power. Only an appeal to the society, only information about the real state of affairs and the intensification of political activity pushed us to participate in these elections. If we do not do this, we will not fulfill the mission of the patriotic forces in Belarus, the country will cease existing. And then we will again wait, maybe for centuries, until the situation in Russia changes, which will give us another opportunity to get this very independence. I’m not hoping that the regime in Russia will collapse now, that we will receive all of this as a gift, because I don’t see any objective reasons for Russia to vanish in the near future. I do not want this. We are destined to live nearby. And we have to inform them that we, in the sense of the people, in the sense of the state, are equal, and not some “younger brothers” with whom they can play as with children. - You said that the election of the year 2015 was a disgrace, that candidates were some back-up dancers. This year, you are taking the initiative. What will you say to the people who will criticize you and say: “You are doing the back-up dancing as well”? Mikalai Statkevich : Did anyone mention back-up dancing in 2010? This is the answer to your question. Uladzimir Niakliayeu : In 2015, we did not take part in the elections, hoping that the democratic opposition would weigh the situation. But the experience of 2010, and the experience of 2015, and most importantly - a dramatic change in the situation - forced us to make this decision. Today, in order to counterstand to this danger, I am ready to unite with anyone. For example, we have had a tense relationship with the Charter for a long time. With Sannikov, the last join press-conference we had was 8 years ago. But if you are involved in politics and your goals relate to the fate of the country in which you live - you must step over personal things. If you are not able to do this - it would be better if you don’t do any politics. I am not going to call anyone from this or that camp at this election. Or criticize anyone. Just do your own thing. I personally have no complaints about anyone and I am not going to agitate them to join the Belarusian National Congress, although the condition of our support for any other candidate is that he is a member of the BNC. - Is there a chance for a single candidate? Uladzimir Niakliayeu : As soon as Belarusians realize there is a serious threat to lose their Homeland, you will not recognize these people. When you have nothing to fear, when someone is pacifying you as if you were a baby in a crib, telling you fairy-tales – you will sleep like a baby. - Is there any chance to win, when there are in fact no elections in the country? Mikalai Statkevich : Of course, there are no elections. But we see a unique situation here. The uniqueness of this situation has one bad and one good aspect. The bad thing is that Moscow decided to close the unprofitable branch. For us, this is a threat, and it is concrete. Moscow will not let release its grip around Lukashenka. It will strangle him slowly. Either revolution, or annexation. He will not go anywhere, and eventually, he will give up. But there is one new unique positive thing. It lies in the fact that the Belarusian society is ripe for change. 80% (these are the results of opinion polls) want changes. The vast majority of Belarusians hate Lukashenka. People want independence. These are the things on which you can create and consolidate a protest majority. And whoever consolidates this protest majority, will lead, not only to the elections, will change the situation in the country. We see the Belarusian National Congress in this role, because no one else claims it. - Is there a chance for peaceful changes in Belarus? Mikalai Statkevich : Yes. Uladzimir Niakliayeu: Yes. Let me finish. I would hug even with a devil, so that Belarus remains. However, this devil must confess he is a devil and tell which sins he had committed. In this case, I will have no problem supporting people who believe it is possible to unite with the authorities today in the name of something bigger. However, for this, these authorities must admit that it was precisely the Lukashenka policy which brought the country to such a state. According to the research, 3% is no few, if we are talking about the people who are ready to defend their country with weapons. Mikalai Statkevich : Mr. Niakliayeu, it’s not 3%, it’s 18%.

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