After 26 years in power, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko guaranteed himself another victory in last weekend’s election. Mass protests have broken out to contest its merits.
Here is what Belarus is facing today. [Thread]
📸 Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Here is what Belarus is facing today. [Thread]
📸 Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
On Monday, the Belarusian Central Election Commission declared that Lukashenko had won with over 80 percent of the vote. But exit polls conducted in Belarusian Embassies around the globe indicated completely different results. [2/7]
foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/10/bel…
foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/10/bel…
Members of the opposition and others were already being arrested prior to the election. A Belarus-born political consultant, Vitali Shkliarov, publicly criticized Lukashenko in a June FP argument. Today, Shkliarov remains in Belarusian custody. [3/7]
foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/04/bel…
foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/04/bel…
In response to the arrests, Belarus saw the rise of an all-female opposition ticket. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya picked up her detained husband’s campaign. Lukashenko had previously said a woman could not handle the stress of the job. [4/7]
foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/24/bel…
foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/24/bel…
Since the Sunday election, scores of people have been injured in Minsk as riot police used rubber bullets, water cannons, and flash grenades to suppress the protests. The crackdown has seen some 6,000 people arrested and at least two people killed. [5/7]
foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/10/bel…
foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/10/bel…
Close to appointing an ambassador to Belarus, the U.S. may now have cold feet. Democrats could block the confirmation of the first envoy to Belarus in over a decade, FP’s @RobbieGramer and @ak_mack report. [6/7]
foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/12/bel…
foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/12/bel…
