MINSK, Belarus: In Minsk, street posters, television ads and even automated text messages exhort Belarussians to vote in Sunday’s presidential polls.
Who to vote for is barely mentioned.
After 21 years of authoritarian rule, hardline President Alexander Lukashenko just wants a convincing turnout in a vote closely watched by the West, while fearing no threat from the other three candidates, only one of whom is actually campaigning.
None of the veteran opposition leaders is standing. Unable to register, they are calling on supporters to boycott the vote, while admitting this is simply a symbolic tactic.
Just six weeks out of jail, opposition leader Mikola Statkevich sat in a Minsk cafe, looking remarkably fresh-faced for a former convict, his blue eyes still bright.
“A boycott is a weak position, I’ve always opposed boycotts of elections, but if you don’t have a candidate, why go to such polls?” he said.
He says he is exploiting Lukashenko’s wish for a semblance of democracy by holding a series of non-sanctioned protests, the last of which will take place Saturday on central Freedom Square, gambling that Lukashenko will not clamp down on participants.
AFP
