NTV: Minsk waiting for disclosers (Video)

A report about the election campaign in Belarus didn’t pass censorship yesterday and wasn’t shown in the country.

The presidential campaign has officially been launched in Belarus. The voting takes place on December 19; 10 persons intend to run for presidency.

All of them, or their agents, have been handed in an appropriate certificate in the Central Election Commission today and stand now ready for the struggle that promises to be hot. Even the head of the Belarusian Central Election Committee supposed that the country would meet a wave of disclosures, claims, and complaints.

Russian NTV correspondent Georgy Grivenny reports from Minsk.

The Palace of the Republic, the place where the CEC named the presidential candidates on Thursday, is decorated with posters far from being political. Minsk prepares to host Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

Watching the local state TV channels, one may think it is the most important event in the country now. Every TV report shows every day: the participants arrived, settled in hotels, and had dinner. Politics is scarcely mentioned. But the people with flags and posters who came to October Square in front of the Palace have their own music.

They were welcoming the candidates. The latter showed their certificates they had just received. Some minutes before, the CEC head had handed them the cherished green books. In response, most of them complained at initially unequal conditions of the election campaign, demanded access to the state media and promised at least to struggle if not to win.

Mikalai Statkevich, a Belarusian presidential candidate: “I’d like you to tell the director of this circus that I won’t be a clown. I will struggle for the authorities to give us the free election.”

Andrei Sannikov, a Belarusian presidential candidate: “I promise I will do my best for Belarus to become free and democratic next year. History is being made today. History is being made by us. We will win!”

Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the incumbent president and since now a presidential candidate too, didn’t come to get his certificate. The head of state remains practically invisible in the current political rhetoric.

President prefers to speak about daily problems. He says the rumours about soon devaluation of the Belarusian ruble lie and calls on people not to buy dollars: the demand for foreign currency has increased six-fold in Belarus for the last month.

Stanislau Bahdankevich, the chairman of the National Bank of Belarus in 1991–1995: “Mr Lukashenka swears there won’t be devaluation. We heard the same in December 2008. In January 2009, we saw 20% devaluation. Everything was devalued.”

Former head of the National Bank Stanislau Bahdankevich says the main problem of the Belarusian economy was its state-planned Soviet style character unlike Russia’s market economy. Ministries make plans for plants, plants fulfill them, but face problems with selling their production.

The production is often non-competitive, it cannot find buyers and doesn’t bring income to the state. As a result, the state has to borrow money abroad.

Stanislau Bahdankevich: “The national debt has increased 2.2-fold for one year. We are living beyond our means. We are living in debt.”

Of course, each of ten presidential candidates has own views on how Belarus should develop. They have their programmes and need to convey them to the voters.