Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Saturday that he does not expect any serious political battles at the upcoming presidential elections in the ex-Soviet republic.
"There will be no fight, we will behave properly," Belta state news agency quoted the president as saying.
Belarus will hold presidential elections on December 19. Eleven candidates have secured the required number of signatures (at least 100,000) to run for president.
Lukashenko said he does not care how many rivals will face him during the elections.
"If they are real politicians, they will fight. If they are worthless they will be probably afraid of entering an open political struggle," he said.
The president said he has no time for a political campaign and does not know how many signatures were collected in his support.
The Belarusian Central Election Commission reported earlier on Saturday that Lukashenko had submitted over 1,100,000 signatures.
The incumbent president is followed by opposition candidate Vladimir Neklyayev, who has amassed over 160,000 signatures. Further down the line are former foreign minister Andrei Sannikov (over 150,000 signatures) and liberal Yaroslav Romanchuk (over 120,000 signatures).
Lukashenko, who won three landslide victories in the 1994, 2001 and 2006 elections, said his rivals were unlikely to gain more than 1-5% of the vote during the presidential polls.
MINSK, October 30 (RIA Novosti)
