MINSK, September 8. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that most Belarusians supported him in the presidential election, although many may have begun to see him as a bore. He made the statement in an interview to Russian mass media. Some extracts from it were published by the RT television channel on Tuesday.
Lukashenko acknowledged he felt upset at the thought part of the Belarusian population was against him.
"Of course, it was very upsetting and even tragic, if you wish. But that does not mean that I’ve given up, because I look at this philosophically," he said.
Lukashenko stressed he regarded it as his duty to defend the positive results achieved over the years of his rule.
"I must protect what has been made by our hands. Protect the people who accomplished it. These people are in an overwhelming majority. They voted for me, although they see and hear me each day on TV. Possibly, some of them have begun to feel bored, but they supported me. Now I have to live with this," Lukashenko said.
In Belarus’ August 9 presidential election Lukashenko emerged the winner with 80.1% of the votes. The runner-up, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who received 10.12%, did not recognize the election returns. Shortly afterwards she moved to neighboring Lithuania, where she has remained since. Right after the election returns were made public several Belarusian cities saw mass protest demonstrations. During the first days there were clashes with police.