Dwellers of Lukashenka's native town about “elections”: Why should I vote? (Video)

A dweller of the town of Shklou recalls how people used to visit polling stations in the Soviet times because deficit beer was sold in a bar there.

“We were not interested whom we elected and for what purposes. Since those times, there were only insignificant changes, if any,” he said in an interview to Belsat TV.

New bridge and tank driving range

A great part of Belarusian ruler's life is connected with Shklou and Shklou region. He was born near Shklou. He studied and got his first job here. It's not strange that Lukashenka gives much attention to his native region. He visited Shklou a month ago to open a reconstructed bridge over the Dnieper River.

Local dwellers are happy about the bridge and improvements in the city centre. But almost everyone complains about roads. “They can do something in the yards were officials live, even if it not necessary. But the roads used by cars and ambulances look like a tank driving range,” former worker of the housing and utilities service Ivan Tsypyankou says.

“I supported Lukashenka even when executive committees didn't like him”

The town must be prepared for frequent visits of its prominent citizen, so 65% of Shklou's budget is financed by the state. Is it a merit of local officials?

“Alyaksandr [Lukashena] is the only person whom I believed and supported even when executive committees did not like him,” Ivan Tsypyankou recalls. According to him, he does not go to civil servants with his problems any more. “I had to deal with them two times. I don't go to them any more. And I don't vote.”

Beer and sausages are vitals

Local historian Alyaksandr Hrudzin voted for other reasons: “I remember 'elections' when I was a student. We went to a polling station because a bar there opened at 6 a.m. You could buy beer and cheap sausages there. “We were not interested whom we elected and for what purposes. Since those times, there were only insignificant changes, if any.”

A problem of absence of a toponymic commission does not bother officials, the local historian says. The housing and utility services give names to streets. No surprise that Kamyshovaya Street appeared in the village of Ryzhkovichy,  which recently became part of the town. “It is not even a Belarusian word,” Alyaksandr Hrudzin says.

Economist Pyotr Mihurski calls members of parliament an “appendix of the executive branch”: “Formally, we have elections, but on the other hand, local dwellers are not enthusiastic about them. They are forced to vote.”