At Monday’s meeting with Brest activists who are protesting against a hazardous battery factory in the city, Alyaksandr Lukashenka made a comment on the recent developments in the country.
He called on people not to insult him and not to spread information about his allegedly losing popularity. The video of the meeting was published by the presidential press service on Telegram.
According to Lukashenka, the opposition’s reports about his 3% rating are false.
“It is ‘Sasha 3%’ that has already been written on your T-shirts. But do you really believe that the incumbent president has only 3%? Even in the current ‘alternative’ campaign I’ll definitely gain more than three [per cent of votes]!” Lukashenka stressed.
In his opinion, he is the only person who is able to address the issues Belarus is facing. Lukashenka also demanded people stop throwing insults and calling him ‘cockroach’.
“If you have any problems, show them forth. Listen, no one but me and acting government will solve them. Therefore, do not scold us, and never call us names – ‘mustachioed cockroach’, or something in that style. I did not personally offend any of you,” the Belarusian leader complained.
In a clear allusion to the recent arrest of his potential election competitor Viktar Babaryka, he also promised not to defend ‘all sorts of swindlers’.
“Why did we have to take action? Because they started to cover their traces, they started to take out money, paintings. When we went to the bank, you know what we found in deposit boxes? Money is not the main thing. We found flash drives, hard drives and a sea of information <…> They have tonnes of property abroad. They will go there, sooner or later. They will run away, and you will stay here,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes Lukashenka.
