MINSK, 4 June (BelTA) – As he appointed new members of the government on 4 June, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko talked about small and large carousels in the course of collection of signatures to nominate candidates for the forthcoming presidential election, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “We can save the country and recover from this situation [the pandemic and the global economic crisis] only thanks to our discipline, restraint, and by directing the entire nation towards the resolution of problems. Pay no heed to Instagram pictures or some Telegram channels that talk about the allegedly long queues.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that photos taken by quadcopters show a totally different picture. “These are the same people and their number has not changed. No new protest movement has emerged. Yes, some dissatisfied people and the rest have shown up. Some people are always dissatisfied. But what about a new protest movement? It takes years. It doesn't exist. But they don't want to associate themselves with the radical opposition that fought us in the streets. Didn't work out. A white-red-white flag and a European flag were unfolded at the Komarovsky Marketplace. And those, who are financed by Russian oligarchs today, clearly saw that they waste money of the Russian oligarchs to pave the road to power for the so-called radical opposition of Belarus,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
“And these lines of people represent a small Belarusian carousel and a large Belarusian carousel, as I call it. People sign the papers, then go to the end of the queue, sign the papers again… They even went as far as bringing people by car (the Minsk mayor noticed it). People sign the papers, get in the car, take a ride around the city block, join the queue again,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, the large carousel is all about having the same people sign the papers at the Komarovsky Marketplace day after day. The same people and some other ones turn up again and again. “They understand that the [election] commission will notice it when they check the signatures. And they declared right away: we are not going to participate in the election campaign, our main goal is to shake up the country and clear the road for someone. You know who,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
