August 05, 2020

Tension in Belarus rises as presidential election day approaches

topic:	Election
located:	Ukraine, Belarus, Russia
editor:	Igor Serebryany

As the countdown for the presidential campaign in Belarus is nearing its end on Sunday, August 9, the tension in the otherwise peaceful country has been getting higher day in and day out.

During the pre-election campaign, the Belarusian police arrested two main contenders for the President Alexander Lukashenko, with the third fleeing the country with his children escaping impending arrest. The number of political prisoners grew 24-fold, including citizens of Russia, the country's closest (and only) ally.

Despite the fact that all five remaining presidential-hopefuls cannot offer serious competition to Lukashenko, the Belorusian opposition, surprisingly, considers the election campaign successful. For example, Victor Babariko collected 43,5000 signatures for his nomination, a record high support for any opposition leader during Lukashenko's 26-year presidency.

The only woman among the contenders, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, gathered over 60,000 people at her rally in Minsk last weekend. She managed to raise $100,000 for her campaign in just one day. Tikhanovskaya is a housewife and a political novice, so people support her as a spouse of the imprisoned opponent of the standing president rather than her political platform (and she admits she hasn't got any).

Alexander Lukashenko lives in constant fear over the past few months as opinion polls suggest the public support for him is nosediving. In April, the last time the polls were held, only 24 per cent of those polled said they would vote for the president who's seeking his sixth term in office.

"Tikhanovskaya became a candidate for all Belarusians who care little about political particulars and want the only simple thing – that Alexander Lukashenko be removed from power," Belarus-based director of the Center for New Ideas Rygor Astapenya said.

In Lukashenko's mind, enemies are everywhere. Fearing to repeat the fate of the Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich who was ousted by the popular uprising in February 2014, Lukashenko sees conspiracy everywhere. Last week, Belarusian security service KGB arrested 32 Russian nationals, members of the paramilitary Wagner private company, on charges that they have arrived to Minsk to stir Kiev's Maidan-styled street unrest on the eve of the election day or immediately after it.

On Tuesday, August 4, Lukashenko proposed to amend the Constitution if he wins another term in office. It seems that the example of his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin, who on July 1 arranged his lifetime presidency with a similar trick, looks attractive for Belorusian dictator.

Image by Aline (Алевтина) Mueller 

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