MINSK — Belarus’s leading opposition figure has called on workers in Belarusian state factories and companies to continue striking, as part of efforts to pressure President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to announce new elections.
“I ask you – continue and expand strikes,” she said in a video address released on August 21. “Don’t be fooled by intimidation.”
“If we all stand together, this regime will not stand a chance,” she added.
Many of Belarus’s biggest and most important state enterprises have seen work stoppages over the past 13 days, as workers have joined thousands of demonstrators opposed to Lukashenka and the “rigged” August 9 vote in which the 65-year-old Belarusian leader claimed a landslide reelection victory.
A 37-year-old political novice, Tsikhanouskaya ran after other potential candidates, including her husband, were jailed or exiled prior to the election during a crackdown on the opposition.
Official results gave her about 10 percent of the vote, but she claims to have actually received between 60 and 70 percent.
Tsikhanouskaya, who left Belarus last week for Lithuania, has joined with some strike leaders, opposition activists, and cultural figures to form a Coordination Council aimed at negotiating a transition of power with the Belarusian government.
But Lukashenka has refused and rejected demands for a new presidential election, instead accusing the council of plotting a coup.
Two members of the Coordination Council were summoned to the Investigative Committee on August 21 for questioning, a day after the Prosecutor-General’s Office opened a criminal inquiry against the council’s founders on charges of threatening national security.
The council members rejected the accusations, insisting that their actions have been in full compliance with Belarusian law.
The popular protests that erupted after the August 9 vote gave Lukashenka a fresh six-year term have turned into the biggest challenge to his 26 years in office.
About 7,000 people were detained, hundreds were injured, and three people died in a crackdown on protesters. Some of those who have been released since have complained of beatings and terrible conditions while in detention.
The European Union has said it does not recognize the result of the election because of irregularities and will soon impose sanctions on Lukashenka’s government.
In a statement on August 21, an EU spokeswoman for foreign policy and security affairs urged Belarusian authorities to drop the criminal case against the Coordination Council and to instead “engage in a dialogue in view of moving towards a peaceful way out of the current crisis.”
The previous day, EU Council President Charles Michel tweeted that he held another phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country is Lukashenka’s closest ally, and told him that the only solution to the Belarus crisis was “political inclusive dialogue & a peaceful and democratic process.”
During the call, Michel said the bloc’s goals for the crisis were to stop violence against protesters and ensure that the country does not slide into chaos, according to a senior EU official.
“Nobody wants a repeat of what happened in Ukraine,” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
“The EU is seeking to support stability, talks between authorities, the opposition and the broader society, economic prosperity, without tilting the geopolitical balance for Belarus between the EU and Russia.”
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on August 20 that the United States remains deeply concerned by “serious flaws” in Belarus’s election, adding that Washington was in support of international efforts to independently look into reported electoral irregularities and human rights abuses surrounding the vote.
Pompeo also urged the Belarusian government to “actively engage” Belarusian society, including through the Coordination Council.”
With reporting by Reuters
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Radio Free | Radio Free (2020-08-21T07:12:35+00:00) Belarusian Opposition Leader Calls On Workers To Broaden Strikes. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/08/21/belarusian-opposition-leader-calls-on-workers-to-broaden-strikes/
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