English

Karatkevich votes for herself

Presidential candidate Tatsyana Karatkevich told reporters at a polling station in Minsk on Sunday that she had voted for herself.

Ms. Karatkevich came to Polling Station No. 8 together with her campaign chief Andrey Dzmitryyew and her campaign aide Ihar Lyalkow. The station has transparent ballot boxes.

Ms. Karatkevich said that she had voted for herself for the first time in her life. According to her, she put a "victory" sign next to her name in the ballot, implying that she expected a runoff round with Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Whether or not the second round takes place depends on how ballots are counted, she said.

Ms. Karatkevich refused to say how much of the vote she expected to receive. She attributed the record high early voting turnout to what she called the government's fear of the second round.

Ms. Karatkevich said that she was not urging her voters to stage a post-election demonstration. She explained that she would not be able to ensure demonstrators' safety. "Naturally, we have the right to stage a peaceful protest, but there is the likelihood of an inappropriate and aggressive response by authorities," she said, adding that she would not like protesters to fall victim to "provocations." // BelaPAN