Belarus’ president remains defiant after largest protest in country’s history, NATO ‘closely monitoring’ situation

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has rejected calls to quit following his contested re-election, warning that the former Soviet republic would “perish as a state” if it was forced to repeat the vote.

Opposition protesters took to the streets for the eighth consecutive day of anti-government demonstrations on Sunday, demanding the departure of the country’s embattled authoritarian leader.

It comes as anger grows over reports of police violence and allegations of electoral fraud and poll-rigging in the August 9 presidential election.

Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, claimed a landslide victory in the vote that gave him his sixth term in office and has denied allegations of fraud.

“Until you kill me, there will be no other elections,” Lukashenko told workers at a tractor plant on Monday, Reuters reported, citing local independent media outlet Tut.by. 

Official results indicate he received around 80% of the vote earlier this month, while main opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, 37, was said to have received around 10% of the vote.

Tikhanovskaya, who challenged the 65-year-old president after her husband was barred from running and jailed by authorities, has condemned the result and called for the creation of a legal mechanism that can ensure a new, fair presidential election can be held.

Speaking in a video address from Lithuania on Monday, the former English teacher said security and law enforcement officers loyal to the president would be forgiven for their past behavior so long as they immediately scrap their allegiance to the president.

Thousands of people have been detained during recent protests, which the police have sought to stamp out by using clubs, rubber bullets and flash grenades. At least two demonstrators have been killed.

The opposition has also called for a general strike from Monday. It comes after thousands of workers at state-controlled factories, a traditional support base for Lukashenko, went on strike late last week.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/17/belarus-protests-lukashenko-defiant-with-nato-monitoring-situation.html