Ronald Pofalla: “It would be silly for Belarusian opposition to nominate single candidate”

The presence of several candidates is a display of pluralism of the opposition, the politician believes.

Conditions to carry out free and transparent elections haven’t still been created in Belarus, Ronald Pofalla, the Chief of Staff of the German Chancellery and a Federal Minister for Special Affairs, said at a press conference in Minsk, Interfax-Zapad news agency reports.

“There are no normal conditions for free elections. Belarus is till far from holding free elections,” Pofalla said. At the same time he noted: “there are no more restrictions that used to be, for example, in signature collecting. This cannot be compared with standards of free elections in European countries; the voters don’t know candidates a few weeks before the election.”

According to the federal minister, minimum standards of free elections in Belarus can be absence of obstacles for registration of presidential candidates, balanced composition of election commissions, and the access to all stages of the election campaign for international observers.

Answering a question about possible nomination of a single opposition candidate, Pofalla noted such an offer to the opposition from him could look like “interference with the internal affairs”. However, he admitted that the theme had been discussed during his visit to Minsk and during his meetings with opposition representatives. “A free election doesn’t mean that only two candidates run: the incumbent president and an alternative candidate. It would be silly for the opposition to nominate a single alternative candidate,” Pofalla said. In his opinion, presence of several candidates is a display of pluralism of the opposition. “Another question is whether the opposition candidate can agree upon the joint platform and form joint requirements,” the federal minister said adding that he “don’t refer to a category of people who think opposition can be strong only by nominating its single candidate”.

The Chief of Staff of the German Chancellery said to a question about a role of Russia and influence of Belarus–Russia conflict on the election campaign that he had been in Moscow three weeks before and talked with the head of the Russian President’s Administration and the head of the Administration of the Russian PM and new mayor of Moscow. “I don’t know how this conflict will influence the election. The political climate differs from that of the previous years,” Pofalla said. In his view, Russia can only have an indirect impact on the election campaign in Belarus by spreading statements of Russian politicians.

Speaking about consequences of non-recognition of the election, Pofalla noted he would “criticize Belarus harshly”. He also said he planned to visit the country again next year and discuss “how the election was held”. “I have tight contacts with Belarus and I am not going to cut them off. I see development in civil society and opposition,” the federal minister said.