Belarus president declares no election in the country until he dies
The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has threatened that he will not allow another election in the country “until you kill me”.
The embattled leader – known as ‘Europe’s last dictator’ – is facing the biggest challenge to his 26-year rule amid a wave of protests sparked by his re-election on August 9.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK does not accept the results of the ‘fraudulent’ election. According to the Belarus Central Election Commission, Mr Lukashenko won 80% of the vote compared with opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s 10%.
Daily Times gathered that the vote triggered the biggest protest in the country’s history on Sunday. Hundreds of protesters have been wounded, and two have died in clashes with police over the past week.
Belarus president sought to defend his victory on a visit to a tractor factory today, telling workers: “We held the election. Until you kill me, there will be no other election.”
He was met with howls of protest as the workers shouted “resign” and called him a “liar”. The strongman, who arrived by helicopter, had hoped to use the visit to show he was still in control.
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Last week, workers at state-run factories walked off the job in protest against the results. On state TV, empty studios were broadcast to air as journalists joined the strike.
Ms Tikhanovskaya – who fled Belarus after the election – said she was ready to become a ‘national leader’ to restore stability to the eastern European nation of 10 million.
Mr Lukashenko insisted his government was the only legitimate one, telling a crowd on Sunday the nation would ‘perish as a state’ without him. Mr Raab called for an urgent investigation into the ballot’s ‘serious flaws’ and condemned ‘grisly’ acts of violence by Belarusian authorities.
He said: ‘The world has watched with horror at the violence used by the Belarusian authorities to suppress the peaceful protests that followed this fraudulent presidential election. ‘The UK does not accept the results.’ Meanwhile, all EU 27 foreign ministers said the elections were neither free nor fair. They will discuss their response at an emergency meeting on Wednesday.
