BELARUS: President Alexander Lukashenko accuses opposition of attempting to overthrow his rule

Record ID: 644432

  • Title: BELARUS: President Alexander Lukashenko accuses opposition of attempting to overthrow his rule
  • Date: 31st December 2010
  • Summary: VILLAGE OF TRESKOVSHINA, MINSK REGION, BELARUS (DECEMBER 30, 2010) (REUTERS) BELARUS PRESIDENT ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO WALKING INTO ROOM FOR STATEMENT CAMERAS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) BELARUS PRESIDENT, ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, SAYING: "Our biggest victory is that we defended our country. Even you, well-informed people who stay close to the president, can't even imagine that a handful of these traitors could overthrow the country." LUKASHENKO'S HAND (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) BELARUS PRESIDENT, ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, SAYING: "At present I just don't want to talk about it. We'll have time to discuss it, but even I didn't understand a lot. Everything they did, they had the backing of certain people not from our state, certain political structures and huge sums of money." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) BELARUS PRESIDENT, ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, SAYING: "When someone tells me about the West, I don't trust them [the West]. Most likely they were trying to distract me and all of us, saying 'Hold [the election], open up everything.' It's just like 'Go and lay down on the ground in freezing temperatures, get undressed and everything will be all right.' They were trying to distract us and now we can see their true face. Therefore, it just proves one more time that we can only rely on ourselves. We will never be loved by them." LUKASHENKO WALKS AWAY
  • Embargoed: 15th January 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belarus, Belarus
  • Country: Belarus
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABKSF3ITORVBY8M9OTAQKLOJE3
  • Story Text: Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko spoke with journalists on Thursday (December 30), accusing the opposition of planning to overthrow his rule.
    Lukashenko was visiting a newly-built home for the elderly in the village of Treskovshina near the capital city Minsk. Journalists were invited there by the presidential press service.
    "Our biggest victory is that we defended our country. Even you, well-informed people who stay close to the president, can't even imagine that a handful of these traitors could overthrow the country," Lukashenko told journalists, commenting on the rally held by the opposition after December 19 presidential polls.
    Nearly 700 protesters and journalists were arrested at the post-election demonstrations which were dispersed violently by riot police.
    "At present I just don't want to talk about it. We'll have time to discuss it, but even I didn't understand a lot. Everything they did, they had the backing of certain people not from our state, certain political structures and huge sums of money," Lukashenko added, hinting that the opposition was financed by the West.
    "When someone tells me about the West, I don't trust them [the West]. Most likely they were trying to distract me and all of us, saying 'Hold [the election], open up everything.' It's just like 'Go and lay down on the ground in freezing temperatures, get undressed and everything will be all right.' They were trying to distract us and now we can see their true face. Therefore, it just proves one more time that we can only rely on ourselves. We will never be loved by them," he said.
    The Belarus Central Election Commission confirmed Lukashenko's re-election in a landslide 79.65 percent victory, but the opposition said the vote was rigged and international observers said there was a lack of transparency in vote counting and mistreatment of Lukashenko's opponents.
    While the European Union (EU) and the United States have condemned the election process and the arrests, Russia has supported Lukashenko, and the Russian ambassador said Moscow backed legal action against the demonstrators' leaders.
    A teacher by education and a Soviet-era collective farm boss, the balding, moustachioed Lukashenko, 56, has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994. He is especially popular among elderly and rural voters who dubbed him "batka," or father, for his tough style, but also for his down-to-earth comments and hands-on management style.
    He portrays Belarus as under siege from the West and attacks corruption and mismanagement in lengthy televised speeches calling for order and stability. The ex-Soviet republic has formed a buffer between Russia and NATO since 1994.
    Lukashenko's uncompromising language suggests little hope for warmer relations in the immediate future with the EU, which has been deciding how much to engage with the country of 10 million on its eastern flank.
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