Lukashenko: Referendum a means of checking course :: Charter'97 :: News

Aleksandr Lukashenko said on Sunday that the ongoing referendum on lifting the presidential term limit serves as a means of checking the government`s course during the last decade. "If the people say "yes" and show their support, I will do my best to work harder and more confidently," official sources quoted him as saying as he exited a Minsk polling place.

"I will know that the people need the course I have pursued with my colleagues, the government."

During the referendum, which coincides in time with elections for the House of Representatives, voters are being asked whether they allow the two-term constitutional limit on the presidency to be eliminated.

While talking to reporters at the polling station, Mr. Lukashenko reiterated his declared commitment to popular interests.

"I think you will agree that the president of Belarus does not serve any clans or oligarchs and groups," he said.

"The president of Belarus serves the people in the first place. The popular will, the popular word, popular support - that is the most important factor for me. If the people support me, thank them."

Mr. Lukashenko urged the West to abandon what he called a practice of accusing Minsk of electoral fraud "a priori."

"It`s not the first year I have heard about the West expressing concern. It`s a decade since I`ve been in office and all these years you`ve been concerned about something in Belarus," he told a BBC reporter.

"I think you`ve got enough of other problems. Turn to your problems and deal with them. We did not bar you from entering Belarus. If you notice an irregularity, tell us. We will take steps to prevent those irregularities if there are some. ... Don`t take so much care about us, about our elections, and so on. You have enough of your own problems."