OREANDA-NEWS. September 29, 2008. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko took part in the elections to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus on September 28. After the voting, the Head of State answered the questions of the Belarusian and western media.

Talking about the prospects of the Belarus-West relations after the 2008 parliamentary elections, Alexander Lukashenko underlined, “I think, all has already been said about it. The West is ready to recognize and take another look at Belarus if the elections are held in the proper way, those were their words. It is hard to add something to it. Speaking about the recognition or non-recognition of the elections, I think it will be difficult for the western observers not to recognize them. If they do not recognize them, it is also meaningful, but I have said many times that we hold the elections for ourselves, our state and our people who make their choice.”

According to the President, “those who are impartial and non-partisan see how the elections are being held.

Asked about Russia’s possible reaction to the improvement of the Belarus-West relations, Alexander Lukashenko said, “I do not think that the Russian government is interested in the difficulties in the relations between Belarus and the US and the West. At least, that is what the official representatives of the Russian Federation have been telling us all the time. The improvement of the relations with the West is deemed important to us. If we manage to do it, it will be a significant contribution to the common area of the Belarus-Russia relations. I think both the Russians and Belarusians will benefit from it.”

President underlined that Belarus and Russia “have absolutely no problems.” “The current elections have nothing to do with our relations with Russia. I am sure that the Russians will not only recognize, they will also welcome the outcome of these elections. I see the attitude of the Russian observers to the election campaign and hear what they say about it,” the Belarusian Head of State added.

Alexander Lukashenko is convinced that the Belarusian society just like any other society should have an opposition to the government. “There should be an alternative opinion, an oppositional point of view - I am talking about the true meaning of these words. It should not be the kind of opposition we have now. A real, constructive opposition that influences the life of the society is always needed, because the absence of the opposition causes a political stagnation. This is why the opposition always plays an important role in the society,” the Head of State noted. “But I am not talking about the opposition that is 100% fed and financed from abroad. It is obvious what position it will take and what point of view it will advocate.”

The President is convinced that “the opposition should be constructive, it should exist due to its political activity, it should live in the same way as ordinary people do; otherwise it will not be elected.”

“A society needs an opposition. But nobody is going to create opposition in Belarus artificially. It is very rare when I make forecasts, but the political life of the today’s opposition, especially its leaders who view themselves great democrats, will not be long. It has probably several months or years to live, and then it will disappear. It will disappear because it is not opposition, it represents only itself.”

“I will tell you more: when it came to the nomination of opposition candidates for parliamentary elections, the leaders did not see anyone except themselves. They did not nominate new people. But they have discredited themselves so much that people get scared even of the name written in the ballot. This is why they should have given way to new, young people who have not ruined their reputation, if they have such people,” the Belarusian leader added.

Answering the questions of the Ukrainian media, the Head of State called not to be surprised that many Belarusians polled in the street do not know all the candidates.

“It is quite natural. It is impossible to remember all 300 candidates. This is why do not be surprised. Elections in Belarus – the electoral process and the preparations – do not mean street rallies. It is mainly grass root activities,” the President underlined.

The Belarusian Head of State expressed his confidence that Belarus does not need the Ukrainian model of carrying out a political campaign.

Alexander Lukashenko said that continuity should be preserved in the work of the new members of the parliament.

The Belarusian Head of State underlined that the way to move on has already been developed in the country. This is why the parliament should stick to this way in order to complete the implementation of many programmes, including the ones on the rural revival, during the current five year period, and to preserve the most important values of the country, such as peace and sovereignty.

Alexander Lukashenko noted that he would like the new parliament to be “hard working, with many female representatives.”

After the voting, Alexander Lukashenko got familiar with the work of polling station No 449 of Starovilensky constituency No 105 and talked to international observers.

According to Georg Schirmbeck, international observer representing the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, member of the German parliament, Belarus is moving in the right direction.

He thinks that the current election campaign is running better than the previous one. Georg Schirmbeck, however, had some suggestions. In his opinion, each opposition candidate should be entitled to 2-4 hours of airtime. Alexander Lukashenko responded, “If there is something to listen to, people will need 10 minutes to hear what a candidate is talking about.”

Talking to observers, Alexander Lukashenko said that the Belarusian opposition is afraid of meeting with people and talking to them. “The most important part of the election campaign is communication with people, not speech presentation on television,” Alexander Lukashenko said. He underlined that in the Soviet times voters met with candidates face to face. “Come, present speeches, talk to people. The problem is, however, that our opposition is afraid of meeting with people. Some oppositionists had to be forced to meet with voters,” the Head of State noted.

The President talked to the people who came to the polling station and asked about the conditions for voting.