Belarus Opposition Disputes Lukashenko Landslide Win

 

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the main challenger to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has refused to accept the result of Sunday’s election which the autocratic president won 80% of the vote.

"I consider myself the winner of this election," Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said on Monday.

This follows thousands of arrests after protesters and riot police clashed in the capital Minsk and other cities.

A lack of scrutiny - no observers were present - has led to widespread fears of vote-rigging in the poll.

The election was held amid growing frustration at Mr Lukashenko's leadership, with opposition rallies attracting large crowds. The preceding days saw a crackdown on activists and journalists.

The president has described opposition supporters as "sheep" controlled from abroad, and vowed not to allow the country to be torn apart

Mr Lukashenko won 80.23% of the vote, according to a preliminary count, with Ms Tikhanovskaya receiving 9.9%.

Ms Tikhanovskaya entered the election in place of her jailed husband and went on to lead large opposition rallies.

Mr Lukashenko, 65, has been in power since 1994.

The opposition candidate said that the election results published on Monday morning "completely contradict common sense" and the authorities should think about how to peacefully hand overpower.

"We have seen that the authorities are trying to hold on to their positions by force," she said.

"No matter how much we asked authorities not to turn on their own people, we were not listened to."

Her campaign said it would challenge "numerous falsifications" in the vote.

"The election results announced by the Central Electoral Commission do not correspond to reality and completely contradict common sense," her spokeswoman Anna Krasulina said.

But Mr Lukashenko poured scorn on Ms Tikhanovskaya's comments.

"So Lukashenko, who is at the top of the power structure and at the head of the state, after getting 80% of the vote must voluntarily hand over power to them," the president said. "The orders are coming from over there [abroad]."

"Our response will be robust," he added. "We will not allow the country to be torn apart."

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Belarusian counterpart on his victory, despite friction over accusations of a Russian plot which Mr. Lukashenko has tried to link to the opposition.

The leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, and Azerbaijan have sent messages of support.

But the German government said it had "strong doubts" about the election and that minimum standards were not met.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the election results to be published.

"Harassment and violent repression of peaceful protesters has no place in Europe," she said.

Meanwhile, Poland has called for an emergency EU summit to discuss the crisis.

The centre of Minsk today is quiet but tense. There are a large number of police and security forces patrolling the streets and lining the main squares, and we saw several columns of police and military vehicles moving around the city.

One local told us he had never seen so many police in Minsk. The internet has been completely blocked here - perhaps even across the country - and with TV being almost entirely controlled by the state, independent information is difficult to come by.

But people are defiant and say they will continue to come on to the streets. Maria Kolesnikova, a leading opposition figure, told us that they are making a direct appeal to the police and interior ministry troops to refrain from violence.

Demonstrators took to the streets in central Minsk as soon as voting ended. Many chanted "Get out" and other anti-government slogans.

Police used stun grenades, rubber bullets, and water cannon.

Reports from a human rights group that a man had died proved to be untrue.

However, social media footage showed a man who had clung to the front of a police truck lose his grip as it accelerated, hitting his head.

The interior ministry said 50 civilians and 39 police were injured.

Three thousand people were arrested, the ministry added. About one-third of them were in Minsk, and the rest in other cities such as Brest, Gomel, and Grodno where similar protests took place.

President Lukashenko was first elected in 1994.

In the last vote in 2015, he was declared the winner with 83.5% of the vote. There were no serious challengers and election observers reported problems in the counting and tabulation of votes.

The campaign saw the rise of Ms. Tikhanovskaya, 37, a former teacher who became a stay-at-home mother until she was thrust into the political spotlight.

After her husband was arrested and blocked from registering for the vote, she stepped in to take his place.

President Lukashenko has dismissed Ms. Tikhanovskaya as a "poor little girl", manipulated by foreign "puppet masters".

On the eve of the election, Ms. Tikhanovskaya's team said her campaign manager had been arrested and would not be released until Monday.

And on Sunday, as people voted, internet service was "significantly disrupted", according to online monitor NetBlocks. Opposition supporters say this makes it harder for evidence of election fraud to be collected and shared.

There were already concerns over a lack of scrutiny because observers were not invited to monitor the election and more than 40% of votes were cast ahead of the election.

Tens of thousands defied an escalating crackdown on the opposition last month to attend a protest in Minsk, the largest such demonstration in a decade.

Anger towards Mr. Lukashenko's government has been in part fuelled by its response to coronavirus.

The president has downplayed the outbreak, advising citizens to drink vodka and use saunas to fight the disease.

Belarus, which has a population of 9.5 million, has reported nearly 70,000 cases and almost 600 deaths.