The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, on Monday claimed his victory in the elections held on Sunday, in which he won a sixth term, while defending the action of the Police in the repression of opposition protests, warning of that “there will be no Maidan”, alluding to the demonstrations that overthrew the Government of Viktor Yanukovich in Ukraine.
“There will be no Maidan, no matter how much some want it. Therefore, they need to calm down,” Lukashenko said in statements to the press about the protests that broke out on Sunday night when the exit polls advanced their reelection, which led to severe disturbances. According to the NGO Viasna, there is at least one dead, dozens injured and more than 200 detainees, while the Interior Ministry denies that there are fatalities and sets the balance at about 50 injured and 3,000 arrested.
Lukashenko has maintained that the mobilizations on the election night were not spontaneous. “Of course, it is not what the organizers wanted. They wanted to start a fire in the center of Minsk and spread it through Minsk, but they were not successful,” he said, according to the official Belarusian news agency, BelTA.
The current president has also spoken of an alleged foreign interference, directly accusing the Czech Republic, Poland and the United Kingdom, as well as “a certain flow of people from Russia”, although in this case he has been “sure” that “it is not a state policy “.
Lukashenko has criticized the alleged “brains” of the altercations, saying they sent armed “children” to confront security forces. “Fortunately, the situation was not catastrophic, but it was very dangerous for the people who were pushed into the streets,” he reproached.
Thus, he has defended that the Police acted correctly. “Thanks, guys”, has come to say referring to the agents. In addition, it has reiterated that, if the disturbances are repeated, “the answer will be the appropriate one.” “We will not allow them to tear the country apart,” he declared.
FENCE TO THE OPPOSITION
According to the Electoral Commission, Lukashenko has won with 80.23 percent of the votes, compared to 9.9 percent for the main opposition candidate, Svetlana Tijanovskaya, while the rest of the candidates barely exceed one. percent.
These presidential elections have been marked by the offensive against the opposition. Tijanovskaya herself had to replace her husband, the popular opposition blogger Sergei Tijanovski, who was convicted in May of inciting violence.
Two of Lukashenko’s strongest rivals have been jailed in the run-up to the elections and a third potential candidate, former Belarusian ambassador to the United States, Valery Tsepkalo, fled to Russia after receiving a tip that he too would be arrested shortly.
Already on Saturday – on the eve of election day – Tijanovskaya’s campaign manager was arrested. The Belarusian authorities claimed it was a “mistake” and finally released her.
