I reported many elections.
I noticed the primary ministers and presidents rolled up within the polling stations, vote after which take some questions from the journalists.
But I’ve by no means seen something just like the scene on the 478 polling station in Minsk.
The longtime chief of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, as soon as nicknamed “Last Dictator European”, arrived to launch his vote. So, whereas the Belarusians had been nonetheless voting, the candidate Lukashenko has held a press convention of 4 and a half hours stay on state TV.
It was a possibility to query him on the controversial vote that his critics reported as “a fiction”.
“Which depressing query did you put together for me?” he requested. “How do you at all times do.”
“Good morning”, I replied.
“Good morning, Steve.”
“How are you able to name it a democratic election, when your important rivals are in jail or in exile?” I requested.
“Some are in jail and a few are in exile. But you might be right here!” Lukashenko stated.
“Everyone has the fitting to decide on. This is democracy. Some have chosen jail, others have chosen exile. We have by no means pressured anybody to go away the nation.”
In actuality, it was the brutal repression of the authorities on the demonstrators after the 2020 presidential elections that led to essentially the most stopped opponents of Alexander Lukashenko who had been imprisoned or pushed into political exile. The private selection has not entered it.
“You stated just lately” we should not shut individuals’s mouth “(silence individuals)”, I reminded him.
“But your rivals haven’t simply been stored out of the vote. Some of them have been imprisoned. Currently there are greater than 1,200 political prisoners in Belarus. Isn’t it time to open the jail cells and free them? People like Maria Kolesnikova, Sergei Tikhanovsky … “
“Keep occurring with Mary for me. My God,” he sighed Lukashenko.
“Ok, I’ll reply your query … the jail is for individuals who have opened their mouths too vast and who’ve damaged the legislation. You don’t have any prisons in Great Britain and America?”
“In any nation, for those who break the legislation, you need to endure the results,” he continued. “The legislation is extreme however it’s the legislation. I’ve not invented it. You must respect it.”
“You must respect the legislation,” I intervened. “But these persons are in jail for criticizing you.”
“The ignorance of the legislation doesn’t absolve you with accountability earlier than it.”
Although the opposition eminent figures weren’t licensed to run, the title of Alexander Lukashenko was not the one one on the vote. There had been 4 different candidates. But they got here throughout extra spoilers than severe challengers.
“We talked to a few of the different candidates,” I informed Lukashenko. “One of those, the chief of the Communist Party, helps you overtly. Another is filled with reward for you. It is an odd election, it’s not, with opponents like this …”
“Steve, it is a fully new expertise for you!” He replied, to giggle and applause from native journalists within the room.
“It’s true,” I stated. “I’ve by no means seen an election like this primary.”
“The coverage of the communists based mostly on justice is identical coverage that we’re selling,” Lukashenko supported. “So why ought to they vote in opposition to me?”
The head of the overseas coverage of the European Union Kaja Kallas has characterised these presidential elections in Belarus as “apparent cope with democracy”.
Not that Alexander Lukashenko appears to be imported.
“I swear to you,” he stated, “he could not care much less for those who acknowledge our election or for those who do not do it. The most necessary factor for me is that the individuals of Belarus acknowledges him.”
