Natalya MASHEROVA: "I HAVE NO RIGHT FOR A MISTAKE".

How did you come at the decision to run for the presidential office in Belarus?

I should say it was not an offhand decision. People suggested it to me. I have been lately actively engaged in public and political life. I encounter many problems and make government-level decisions as a member of the National Assembly. But it occurred to me during the [October 2000] parliamentary elections. I had a rather difficult talk about the country's present and the future during my numerous meetings with average voters. Many people suggested to me then that I try to solve the urgent problems at the presidential level. In that period I explained to my voters that being a member of the House of Representatives I would have an opportunity to solve all hot issues together with the president and the executive branch. But later, working in parliament, I understood how difficult it was to establish a dialog between the legislative and executive branches. It is not because someone is good and someone is bad. The point is that many of us still think in rather old categories. One should learn to think in a new fashion, to look ahead and constantly compare one's own experience with the neighbors' and the country's historical experience. I understood that people should be given an opportunity to choose not between the ideologies, not between the opposition and the authorities, but between the presidential candidates, their platforms and proposed methods to combat the economic and social crisis. If I am to become a presidential candidate I will do my best to establish such a dialog as early as at the beginning of the election campaign.

How did your family take your decision?

They took it very hard. I still meet their anxious looks, which ask whether I will do it. My mother warned me that even father had trying times…

If you should meet your objective in the election, what experience are you going to use?

Above all, the historical experience of this country. Belarus' history enshrines a grand gallery of names of great people, who for centuries gathered our state little by little. It will foster a greater national identity of people. The experience of the past epoch, of our society and of outstanding statesmen is invaluable for us. Finally, we have the first experience of presidential rule… I think time has come for active creation instead of confrontation. Therefore, we have no right for mistakes. As far as practical work is concerned, I am going to rely on my own experience of public building. Already today I know a team with intellectual potential, which I intend to engage in forthcoming work. Our primary task is to bring the republic to the international level and take a decent place in the family of European nations. It was my father's dream and he did his best to make it come true. No one has have reached socio-economic stability and prosperity alone. The fact that our neighbors have gone further than we did in terms of embracing market economy has been of some benefit for us. We have escaped the so-called "shock therapy" and preserved the social institutes and guarantees for people. Despite obvious hardships of our agricultural sector we have managed to preserve the agricultural system. Today it is time to turn the republic into a kind of magnet for attracting investment, to restore the reputation of a reliable partner for implementing up-to-date projects and to create an image of a reliable "bridge" between the West and the East…

What is your assessment of the legal conditions of the forthcoming election?

Perhaps, it is right that "the rules of the game" are rather tough here. We are still going through a stage of forming a democratic society. It is vital, therefore, that we avoid all accidental, superficial and politically motivated things. It is important that the voters will have an opportunity to choose from a number of really worthy candidates. Such a large number of presidential bidders signals above all their intention to change the state of things.

Your name became much talked of as early as during the parliamentary campaign. Many people link it to Aleksandr Lukashenko's personal attitude to the memory of your father, Pyotr Mironovich Masherov. Is this true?

I believe I have never said before that Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko, the first head of our state, personally came to see my mother. No other top leader of the republic had visited us after father's death. It was a "direct hit". In domestic policy, this act of the president later translated in the care about the [World War II] veterans and about those who had built the economic basis of the republic in the past decades. There is no contradiction between the fact that people link my father's name to the name of the incumbent president Aleksandr Grigoryevich [Lukashenko] and my intention to run for the supreme office in the country. I will honestly tell you that the fact that I bear my father's name places super responsibility upon me. I have no right for a mistake, because my every action will be linked to his name. At the same time, I am convinced that it is impossible to improve things in the country when one tramples on the authorities in order to rise to top power.

In on of his recent interviews to a private Belarusian newspapers, Vasily Leonov, Belarus' ex-minister of agriculture, leader of the "For a New Belarus" movement, said that Pyotr Mironovich [Masherov] would have never allowed his daughter to bid for presidency. How would you comment on that?

I will give no comment, because I do not know what he meant. And I can allow no one to decide anything for my father.
First of all, I know that father treated every person very delicately. He saw a personality in everyone, he highly assessed other people's opinion and another position. He did not allow himself to press other people with his authority, he never made rash decisions, he sat in front of a person and said, "Now what is your goal? I am listening." I do not know such people any more.

There is an opinion that Moscow is promoting Lukashenko's opponents through the Russian TV channels. Do you expect Moscow politicians or tycoons to support you?

First, Moscow is far from being a homogenous environment. That is why it would be wrong to oversimplify Moscow's political "club". Indeed, in the past years I have established very good personal contacts with many high-profile Russian politicians. I will not deny that if necessary I can easily get valuable advice or a wish from some well-known Russian politicians and statesmen. Some of them can analyze the situation, weigh chances in theory, or be glad for my sake that I have grown, so to say… But all this is restricted to personal contacts only. I am glad that I do not fit in the notorious election technologies, which give journalists and political analysts an opportunity to develop all kinds of scenarios. I enter the election campaign openly and sincerely, because I am firmly convinced that Moscow needs our Belarus as an all-sufficient and independent state. It means that Belarusians should decide everything on their own. I reject such a notion as "promotion", which is equal to the notion of "purchase".

I have a large working experience and I have borne our name with dignity. I am a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Belarusian-Russian union. I am chairperson of the committee on information policy. I was entrusted to anchor a program "Soyuznoye veche" [Union Assembly], which is a joint product of the Belarusian Television and the Russian channel RTR. I am not going to leave this field of activities for the time being.

Members of Zenon Poznyak's [leader of the Christian Conservative Party, one of presidential bidders] support group urge the Central Election Commission (CEC) to issue the certificates of members of the signature-collection group and signature sheets in the Belarusian language. What do you think of this situation and what is your attitude to the Belarusian language?

[Answers in Belarusian] First of all, the Belarusian language is a state language, which says it all. But unfortunately, it has a restricted usage. Naturally, it is necessary to deal with this problem, avoiding any political speculation though. One does not have to fight for it, one should create equal conditions for the usage of the state languages [Belarusian and Russian]. As for the absence of certificates and signature sheets in the Belarusian language, I think it is a organizational flaw of the CEC, which should be improved.

How does the current election campaign differ from that of 1994 and what do they have in similar?

First of all, in that difficult period Belarus was engulfed in the government and political crisis. The people were confused in their choice. The current situation is different, as there is stability in society. The voters are to choose not among politicians, but rather among the presidential candidates' platforms. It is very important to choose correctly the real project of the further development of our society.