MINSK, 24 January (BelTA) - Elections in the United states turn into a year-long show and cost billions of dollars, while in Belarus the election campaign is cultured and calm, Steve Samarin, an international observer from the USA, a political scientist, said in a conversation with BelTA.
In the United States, the election campaign is turning into a year-long show at a cost of billions of dollars. This already calls into question the professionalism of the electoral process and the electoral authorities. Because in this case it is not the qualities of the candidate that are evaluated, but, let's say, his ability to make the people feel comfortable and to say what people want to hear. It is populism, Steve Samarin said.
Mudslinging and verbal attacks seem to be the decisive factor in a show. This year-long show splits the society, he added.
Friends fight, families break up because the husband is for the Republicans and the wife is for the Democrats. It comes to this. The society is very much divided, although, in fact, no drastic changes occur as a result of the arrival of Republicans or Democrats. At least because four years is such a microscopic period, during which the president does not have time to do anything,” the political scientist emphasized.
According to Steve Samarin, a newly-elected U.S. president spends the first year getting up to speed and trying to “sort out the things that the previous president messed up”. The next two years the president tries to make some decisions, but this is too short a period. “It takes a very long time to pass any law in the USA. A law has to pass the lower and upper houses before it gets to the president. Many necessary laws will not even get through the first reading. So, it takes two years just to reach an agreement with parliament, and quite unsuccessfully. Then comes the fourth year, when it is time to start the election campaign, and then, of course, there is no time for state affairs,” the political scientist stated.
According to him, the election campaign in Belarus is proceeding in an cultured, dignified and calm manner: “This is how it should be. This is not a show. This is about making key, crucial, life-changing decisions.”
In the United States, the election campaign is turning into a year-long show at a cost of billions of dollars. This already calls into question the professionalism of the electoral process and the electoral authorities. Because in this case it is not the qualities of the candidate that are evaluated, but, let's say, his ability to make the people feel comfortable and to say what people want to hear. It is populism, Steve Samarin said.
Mudslinging and verbal attacks seem to be the decisive factor in a show. This year-long show splits the society, he added.
Friends fight, families break up because the husband is for the Republicans and the wife is for the Democrats. It comes to this. The society is very much divided, although, in fact, no drastic changes occur as a result of the arrival of Republicans or Democrats. At least because four years is such a microscopic period, during which the president does not have time to do anything,” the political scientist emphasized.
According to Steve Samarin, a newly-elected U.S. president spends the first year getting up to speed and trying to “sort out the things that the previous president messed up”. The next two years the president tries to make some decisions, but this is too short a period. “It takes a very long time to pass any law in the USA. A law has to pass the lower and upper houses before it gets to the president. Many necessary laws will not even get through the first reading. So, it takes two years just to reach an agreement with parliament, and quite unsuccessfully. Then comes the fourth year, when it is time to start the election campaign, and then, of course, there is no time for state affairs,” the political scientist stated.
According to him, the election campaign in Belarus is proceeding in an cultured, dignified and calm manner: “This is how it should be. This is not a show. This is about making key, crucial, life-changing decisions.”
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