29 March 2024, Friday, 14:01
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Siarhei Kaliakin: I will not call on people to take to streets

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Siarhei Kaliakin: I will not call on people to take to streets
Siarhei Kaliakin

Leader of Belarusian communists Siarhei Kaliakin says he will refuse to support peaceful protests if elections are fraudulent.

He said it in an interview with Radio Svaboda after the 18th convention of the Belarusian Left Party Fair World that took a decision to nominate the politician as a presidential candidate.

– Will you call on people to take to streets if the scenario of 2010 repeats?

– I do not find it necessary as of now. I'd like to underline that I don't think that rallies and violent variants in general will give results. The authorities have enough forces (the year 2010 showed it, though not all forces were used), the authorities are armed quite well. If the other side is armed too, it will be Ukraine 2. I don' t think it is the best solution for Belarus. The problem is that the authorities can drive people to the point when they will be ready to take arms. But I do not to be involved in it as an organiser, because consequences will be sad for those who think they will solve the situation quickly. Neither the authorities nor the opposition can solve anything through violence.

– But the authorities are scared by the events in Ukraine and repeat: “There will be no Maidan in our country.” Most people of Belarus do not want Maidan to be repeated...

– I wish we wouldn't have Maidan. This is my position. The authorities console themselves, to put it mildly, that we won't have it. But it doesn't depend on them. Everything may happen, especially if the authorities continue prosecuting dissidents. Maybe protests here will be bigger than in Ukraine. Everything is possible if the authorities do not understand the danger of the repetition of the Ukrainian events.

But I am stand for another way. A peaceful one.

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