The situation in Belarus is calm and controllable ahead of the presidential election later this month, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday.

"It's calm and quiet here, as always, despite acute political events," Lukashenko, quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency, said at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov in Minsk, capital of Belarus.

Belarusian voters will go to the polls on March 19 to elect a president.

In the vote, Lukashenko, who is seeking a third term as president, will face independent candidate Alexander Milinkevich, who is supported by the opposition, Liberal Democratic Party leader Sergei Gaidukevich and Social Democratic Party leader Alexander Kozulin.

Lukashenko was first elected in 1994 and his current term ends in September 2006.

Source: Xinhua