The main challenger to Belarus’s Alexander Lukashenko has refused to accept the autocratic president’s win of 80% of the vote in Sunday’s election. This follows thousands of arrests after protesters and riot police clashed in the capital Minsk and other cities.
Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya who entered the election in place of her jailed husband and went on to lead large opposition rallies said;
“I consider myself the winner of this election; we have already won, because we have overcome our fear, our apathy and our indifference.”
She added that the election results published on Monday morning “completely contradict common sense” and the authorities should think about how to peacefully hand over power.
“We have seen that the authorities are trying to hold on to their positions by force,” she said.
The preliminary results give her 9.9% of the vote, but her campaign said she had been polling 70-80% in some areas. She was targeted during the weekend with eight members of her staff arrested and one of her aides fleeing the country.
Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled for 26 years, won the election with 80% of the vote, the election commission said, according to preliminary results. The president described opposition supporters as “sheep” controlled from abroad, and vowed not to allow the country to be torn apart.
“So Lukashenko, who is at the top of the power structure and at the head of the state, after getting 80% of the vote must voluntarily hand over power to them. The orders are coming from abroad,” the president said
“Our response will be robust. We will not allow the country to be torn apart,” he added
However, there is widespread suspicion that the election was not fair, with two opposition candidates denied places on the ballot before one of them was jailed and the other fled to Russia. These two key opposition figures barred from running, threw their weight behind Ms. Tikhanovskaya’s campaign.
After the vote on Sunday, thousands of protesters gathered in Minsk where police used batons to beat them and flash-bang grenades in an effort to get them to leave. Protesters tried to build barricades with rubbish bins. There were also demonstrations in the cities of Brest, Gomel, Grodno and Vitebsk with the police firing tear gas at people in Brest.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen has called for the election results to be published.
“Harassment and violent repression of peaceful protesters has no place in Europe,” she said.
Anger towards Mr. Lukashenko’s government has been in part fueled by the response to coronavirus. The president downplayed the outbreak, advising citizens to drink vodka and use saunas to fight the disease. Two weeks ago, the 65-year-old said he had caught COVID-19 and recovered “on his feet” without showing any symptoms.
Belarus, which has a population of 9.5 million, has reported nearly 70,000 cases and 600 deaths. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya tapped into this frustration as she campaigned across the former Soviet country.
