Candidates for Belarus presidency ‘preparing a provocative act'

MINSK, 13 December (BelTA) – Alternative candidates for the Belarus presidency are preparing a provocative act when they call upon people to take to the streets and come to Oktyabrskaya Square for a rally. Head of the Belarus President Administration Vladimir Makei made the statement in an interview with RTR-Belarus TV Channel on 11 December.

Vladimir Makei is convinced that some presidential candidates deliberately urge their adherents to make a pretty picture for the Western television so that later on they would be able to accuse the Belarusian authorities of treating common Belarusians with cruelty.
"We've been through that already. I think the government has enough means to calmly and respectfully respond to such appeals and the situation," said Vladimir Makei. He added that young Belarusians have changed, they are no longer what they used to be five or ten years ago. Young Belarusians frown upon such approaches.

The head of the Belarus President Administration believes that appeals for a rally in Oktyabrskaya Square are a way for the alternative candidates to earn the money they had been given for campaigning, for organizing such events while they hide behind "beardless lads". "I think that parents, especially mothers, understand perfectly well what such rallies mean for their kids. Moreover, it is known now that they are not going to make a peaceful rally. Warm clothes, pyrotechnic products and explosives are being bought," said Vladimir Makei.

The head of the Belarus President Administration underlined that staging a rally will not resolve problems. He quoted Russian philosopher Berdyayev, who said that any revolution is evil, any revolution re-assesses values, removing borders between the good and the evil, making the role of the nation in the revolution unseen. According to Vladimir Makei, appeals to stage a rally indicate the political impotence of the presidential candidates. Opposition political analysts say the same.

Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA) is Belarus' biggest news agency providing the latest news about politics, economy, sports, culture and everyday life in Belarus. BelTA's reporters operate in Belarus, Moscow, Kyiv, Chisinau, Warsaw, Vilnius, Caracas.
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Aleksei Fomich, Deputy Editor of the Translations Department (English), Central Release Office, Belarusian Telegraph Agency BelTA
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This release was published on openPR.