Campaign News

17:32, 19.03.2007

Milinkevich upbeat on period after last March's presidential election

Aliaksandr Milinkevich gave an upbeat assessment of the period after last March's presidential election but admitted the existence of internal strife in the opposition.

"I've become more optimistic during this year because the government did not win the election," the former presidential candidate said in an interview with BelaPAN. "The government has become more aggressive. It is carrying out a persecution campaign on a wide scale, in particular among youths. Youths don't want to live the way we're living today. They want to have a promising future - this is evidence of the government's weakness."

Mr. Milinkevich admitted that the opposition had not become stronger in the period after the election. "This is bad because we have failed to display unity and organize serious activities in the country this year," he said. "We have engaged in infighting. Frankly speaking, we have not shown that we are a serious political opposition. We need to correct the situation."

Mr. Milinkevich expressed certainty that opposition leaders would manage to work out all differences. "I'm sure that things will improve in the near future. One learns from mistakes," he said.