I am staring into the eyes of Vladimir Lenin, the Russian revolutionary who based the Soviet Union.
It looks like I’ve travelled again in time. In reality, I’ve come to the headquarters of the Communist Social gathering of Belarus.
An enormous portrait of Lenin dominates the room through which I am interviewing Sergei Syrankov, the get together chief. He’s one among 5 candidates in Sunday’s presidential election.
It appears Lenin is not the one chief he admires. Presidential incumbent Alexander Lukashenko seems to have achieved hero standing too.
“We call him Bat’ka,” says Sergei Syrankov, referring to Belarusians’ affectionate nickname for the 70-year-old, which means ‘father’.
“Bat’ka is not only the person we have to thank for a child’s birth, Bat’ka will also feed the child, protect them, get them on their feet, and create all the conditions for their development and confidence in their future.”
It says quite a bit about an election, and a rustic, {that a} candidate endorses his rival moderately than criticises him.
However this isn’t a standard election. The winner just isn’t doubtful.
After 31 years in energy, Lukashenko is ready for a seventh consecutive time period, although he is not campaigning.
On a latest manufacturing unit go to, he informed employees that he did not have time for it, claiming he is too busy working for the nation.
Others are nonetheless canvassing for votes, nevertheless, giving the phantasm of selection.
Picture:
Anna Kanopatskaya is working as an unbiased presidential candidate
Exterior an upmarket buying centre in downtown Minsk, the Belarusian capital, we meet Anna Kanopatskaya, who’s working as an unbiased.
She and a handful of supporters are doing their finest to distribute leaflets, asking passers-by for his or her vote.
However even this supposed- opposition candidate struggles to search out fault with Bat’ka once I ask what’s unsuitable together with his management.
“What’s wrong?” Ms Kanopatskaya repeats, sounding stunned.
“Presumably you think something’s wrong with it if you want to replace him,” I recommend.
Picture:
The 5 election candidates are ‘like a fan membership of Lukashenko’, says exiled opposition chief Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
After some hesitation, she replies “First of all, he’s not so young and he’s not such an effective and progressive a manager”, earlier than shortly including that generally he’s “very successful”.
By making certain his rivals double up as supporters, Lukashenko has clearly learnt his lesson after the final election in 2020 triggered days of mass protests.
He was accused of stealing victory from the opposition and the wave of unrest that adopted practically swept him from energy.
It was solely after a brutal crackdown, through which tens of 1000’s have been detained, that he regained management.
“It will be like an imitation. It will be a farce. It will be like the reappointment of a dictator by a dictator,” she mentioned.
“All these five people who are participating, it’s like a fan club of Lukashenko.”
These not within the fan membership are both too afraid to talk out or have already been silenced by prolonged jail phrases.
Some opposition figures have been launched in latest months, in an indication Lukashenko could wish to rekindle relations with the West. However there’s a lengthy method to go earlier than he can declare Belarus is freed from repression.
In keeping with human rights teams, greater than 1,200 political prisoners stay behind bars.
