A day with a candidate: Mikalaj Statkevich
We met at 11 a.m. In fact, Mikalaj Statkevich’s morning starts much earlier.
Statkevich: I worked till
rather late yesterday, thus I got up only at 8. I wake up in the same way every
morning – I have a TV remote right by my hand, so I switch on the Euronews,
then change the channel periodically, listen to some news. At the same time, I
do my morning exercises – just ordinary exercises for all the muscles groups.
Simultaneously, I shave, brush my teeth etc.”.
Euroradio: Do you usually have tea or coffee?
Statkevich: “Coffee. Definitely coffee.
Eggs and something else – cabbage or carrot or some other salad. And definitely
coffee – I make it the way students do – pour the boiling water onto it right
in a cup, and add a bit of cinnamon”.
All this time – phone calls, sometimes it’s even hard to shave.
Statkevich: “… Here I am, standing with
foam on one cheek, hardly finished one conversation - another one starts. The
worst thing is when you are in a bath, and someone tells you his suggestions
very long, in details. Nevertheless, this is election campaign, people are trying
to help, I am thankful to them anyway, it would be a sin to complain.
Therefore, I try never to show that it is not the right time for calling”.
At 11.20 Mr. Mikalaj left to be recorded by BelSAT TV-channel,
the program will be shown on December 19.
I was not allowed to present at the recording so I had
to wait for the candidate in his car. Before leaving, he cared to switch on the
radio so I would not be bored.
Statkevich: “My children are proud of me”
Approximately at 12.00, when the recording was over, we went to a bank. On the way, Mr. Statkevich proudly told about his daughter who lived in Germany. She transferred 3 200 US dollars to Mikalaj Statkevich’s account for his election campaign. She decided to spend her savings not on herself, but on her father’s campaign. We were going to the bank to collect this money…
It looked like people in the bank recognized the presidential candidate.
Statkevich: “People do recognize me, come over. People of
different age, of different education. Young people who work at enterprises are
more open. They come over saying” “Thank you! What did you say….” These are
sincere people and I am pleased I could make them feel their own dignity and
lessen this total fear”.
At 12.30 we proceeded to the meeting with other alternative
candidates. On our way there Mr. Statkevich got a phone call from his representative
in Zhlobin.
- Good afternoon, good afternoon!
- (a woman’s voice in the phone)
- Thank you! Your support is very important to me. Thank you
for not being afraid! Good luck to you! All the best!
After a short conversation Mikalaj Statkevich explained what it was.
Statkevich: “Very often, my representatives in the regions give
people the phone to tell me something, as they ask…”.
Statkevich: “This scandal makes me feel bad…”
At 13.00 we arrived at the
BCD’s office where I witnessed a little scandal. Mr. Statkevich refused to take part in the
negotiations when he saw press in the room. He left with a loud door bang.
Later, when we were sitting in a café “Maentak” drinking coffee, Mikalaj
Statkevich confessed he regretted having left this way.
Statkevich: “Frankly speaking, today’s scandal makes me feel bad…”
Mr. Statkevich treated me with a cup of coffee and a piece of cake. He ordered
the same for himself. Besides, the candidate ate practically nothing more for
the whole day. Later he would have a cup of tea with a piece of wheat bread…
That’s all. “Sometimes there’s not enough time even to eat”, - says Mr.
Mikalaj.
While we were sitting in a café, Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu, Anatol Liabedzka and
Zmitser Dashkevich also came there. Mr. Mikalaj explained to me later that they
had been trying to organize another meeting of alternative candidates.
Mikalaj Statkevich finds time to speak with his family despite numerous working phone calls
While we were sitting in a café, Statkevich’s daughter called him. When the head of the candidate’s election HQ Siarhej Martsaleu joined us, he had to wait for Statkevich to finish talking on the phone.
Statkevich: “…well, daughter, you always say something kind to your father… I know, that’s great…”
The conversation took no more than 10 minutes… However, Mr. Mikalaj managed to speak even with his grandson.
After that we visited another presidential candidate –
Dzmitry Us, and left for Barysau together with his representative. There was a
meeting with voters scheduled on 6 p.m. “The biggest event of the day”, as
Mikalaj Statkevich called it.
Statkevich listens to different music in his car – from Leps to Beethoven
We were going to the meeting with voters to Barysau under the accompaniment of Nino Katamadze’s songs, it was raining outside. The day seemed a very long one to me, as I was not used to the schedule of the presidential candidate. I was tired so we mostly kept silence on our way to Barysau.
Euroradio: What music do you listen to apart from Nino Katamadze?
Statkevich: You know what? Let us have a
look… (opens the sundry box) Leps… someone presented it to me… Nyaklyaeu… “Freedom
Songs”… “Elza’s Ocean”, J Mors, Vaitsiushkevich, Beethoven…
Meeting with voters.
We arrived to Barysau at 18.00.The meeting with voters took place in a local cinema. The people greeted Mikalaj Statkevich with applause. There were not many people, about 50. However, the small hall of the cinema was full. They were mostly elderly people.
Statkevich: “It is always good to speak to the audience – you give some energy and take energy back. People leave inspired. It is difficult to speak though the glass… You appeal to people, you give your energy and strength, but receive nothing back… After this I sometimes have a wish to eat some fat with garlic and drink vodka, although I don’t drink vodka at all… ”.
After a 10-minutes speech Mikalaj Statkevich started answering the people’s questions. Barysau inhabitants were worried whether there was a chance for a single opposition candidate… The people also suggested that all the alternative candidates might withdraw altogether.
The people stood up not only to ask a question, but also to criticize the current President a bit.
However, there were people who
disagreed and soon a discussion started in the audience…
A lady: “You call on people to come out to the Square without
knowing the election results! You don’t know the voting results yet. Maybe,
people will vote for Lukashenka, honestly?”
Statkevich: “It is very easy
to predict the election results. As soon as precinct commissions with 0,0% of
opposition in them were formed, everything became clear”.
A lady: "But you know, the majority of population in
Belarus supports the current President anyway!"
(indignant noise in the audience)
Statkevich: “We don’t know that. The biggest secret of the Belarusian
elections is their results. No one knows them! Why such percentage? I’ll tell
you why – they give a plan to each region with regard to the voters’ turnover and
the percentage of those who voted “for”…”
At this moment the same lady said she had observed elections for many years and
saw no violations whatsoever.
Statkevich: “Dear lady, please
forgive me if I hurt you in some way. I have something to ask you about. Please…
Will you observe this election?
- So please, when the commission counts the ballots, ask them to allow you to check how they did it… Can you do this? Have you ever done this?
- I think observer’s rights do not include this. (noise in the audience)
- Listen, it turns out an observer does not have a right to check how the ballots are counted! We have a unique electoral code – observers have no right to observe counting of votes.
The meeting lasted only for an hour. The people headed by Mikalaj Statkevich were asked to leave the cinema hall as some movie was to be shown there. However, the voters did not hurry to leave, they surrounded the candidate and asked him questions.
I asked Barysau inhabitants about their impressions of the meeting with Mikalaj Statkevich.
- I am proud that our country has such politicians as Mikalaj Statkevich. I really liked the meeting.
- I was here at the meeting with Jaraslau Ramanchuk, he is also normal. What we need, is to compare all of them…
- I made my choice very long ago. I am just interested because there are people here who look like they were born yesterday and know nothing about what is really happening… This surprises me much.
- Don’t record me, as I can lose my job if I start talking freely. Tomorrow I’ll be unemployed… And I have only two years left to the pension. So, truly, let’s not do it….
At about 8 in the evening we were going back home. Mr. Statkevich planned to rest for a while but someone called him informing his representative Zmitser Dashkevich had been detained. Statkevich was forced to go to the police department… When I asked him at what time he would go to sleep, Statkevich said – at about 2 a.m.
