After the mass protests over the weekend, the opposition in Belarus called for strikes in state-owned companies. Meanwhile, President Lukashenko has announced a tougher course against the protests. The “last dictator in Europe” received words of support from Moscow.
In the power struggle in Belarus, the opposition has called for strikes in state-owned companies against President Alexander Lukashenko at the start of the new working week. “We continue to demand the resignation of Lukashenko. Every minute that he remains in power, the economy causes great losses,” said the Coordinating Council of the opposition in Belarus. Lukashenko himself has also instructed the governor in the Grodno region in the west of the country to completely close the factories on this Monday. The opposition is particularly strong there. People should first cool off, the 65-year-old said on Saturday during a visit to the region.
The head of state is now threatening anyone who opposes him with the loss of their jobs and livelihoods. The politician, who has come under pressure because of allegations of unprecedented electoral fraud, has also announced a tougher course against the opposition. It is unclear whether there will be new police violence or even the threatened use of the army to suppress the protests. With new mass protests by the opposition, the situation remained peaceful on Sunday. The number of security forces was much stronger than on Sunday a week ago.
Lukashenko, who has been decried as the “last dictator in Europe”, showed himself on Sunday in his presidential palace with a weapon in his hand – a Kalashnikov submachine gun, but probably without a magazine. He has always threatened his opponents, if necessary by force, to secure a sixth term in office after 26 years. He had been declared the winner in the presidential election on August 9th – with 80 percent of the vote. The EU did not recognize the result. The close ally Russia, however, congratulated on the victory.
Lavrov: Tichanovskaya is not looking for an understanding
From the point of view of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Lukashenko has not been proven to have been defeated. Without the presence of independent international election observers, it would be difficult to convince anyone that the result should have been the other way around, Lavrov said at a youth forum on Sunday. The opposition assumes that the foreign language teacher Svetlana Tichanovskaya won the election. Lavrov accused Lukashenko’s opponent Tichanovskaya for not having had a constructive election program. It was not aimed at national understanding. According to this, she wanted Belarus to leave the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union and the collective security treaty, which provides for military assistance from Moscow in the event of an attack.
The dissolution of the union state of both countries as well as membership in the EU and NATO were also planned. In addition, it was about the pushing back of the Russian in favor of the Belarusian language. The program in Belarusian is currently no longer available, but can be found on archived pages on the Internet, Lavrov said. The democracy movement, on the other hand, has repeatedly publicly emphasized that it is interested in a good relationship with Russia since the election.
“In the current situation, Lukashenko cannot be part of a new beginning”
Lavrov also criticized the opposition coordination council initiated by Tichanovskaya. Quite a number of people with anti-Russian attitudes worked there. He also accused the panel of treason for having offered a reward to the military and security forces to switch sides. Individuals followed the call, but overall the security apparatus remains firmly on Lukashenko’s side.
An offer of exile from Russia’s head of state Vladimir Putin to Lukashenko could, in the opinion of CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak, de-escalate the situation in Belarus. “In the current situation, Lukashenko cannot be part of a new beginning,” Ziemiak told the “Rheinische Post”. He considers the situation of the Belarusian president to be increasingly difficult. “He has two options: to give way and thus to enable fair and free elections or to use violence against his own population. The latter must be prevented”, said the CDU politician. Ziemiak met Tichanovskaya on Wednesday in her exile in Lithuania.
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