This is an original poster for the presidential election which began this Sunday at 8 a.m. (7 a.m. in France) in the last authoritarian country in Europe. For the first time, Belarus sees its president Alexander Lukashenko, in power for more than a quarter of a century, confront an unexpected young opponent who has mobilized the crowds despite the repression. The poll was preceded by an early vote since Tuesday with a participation of 41.7% according to the authorities.
Serial arrests
The Belarusian government redoubled its efforts to stem the rise of Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, arresting the head of her campaign headquarters on Saturday and briefly arresting another major ally of the opponent the same day. But the 37-year-old trained English teacher held on despite being "scared every day."
His supporters went to the polls wearing sanitary masks and especially white bracelets, as a sign of recognition at the request of the opponent, who also invited them to send photos of their ballots in order to organize an independent vote count. . She says she has no illusions as to the result because "shameless frauds" have already been perpetrated according to her at the time of the early vote. Especially since the number of independent observers has been reduced to a minimum. Faced with this "worrying information", France, Germany and Poland called for a "free and fair" ballot.
Significant police presence
The fears are mainly concentrated on the post-election period. Demonstrations are not to be ruled out, if the opposition considers the ballot falsified. The president has meanwhile clearly hinted that he would not hesitate to disperse them. On Saturday evening, an increased police presence was visible in the streets of Minsk, and military vehicles passed through the city center of the capital. Protesters were arrested, and opposition supporters drove through town honking their horns in their cars.
"Poor chick"
Before the surprise emergence of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Alexander Lukashenko, 65, eliminated his main competitors in the spring and early summer: two of them are imprisoned, a third has gone into exile. Three other candidates are in the running, but none has been able to mobilize. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya presents herself as an "ordinary woman, mother and wife" who replaced at short notice her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, a blogger imprisoned in May while he was campaigning. Described as “poor girl” by the president, she was able to mobilize even though the country has never been able to see the emergence of a united and structured opposition.
The vote is also taking place in an atmosphere of mistrust towards Moscow, of which Alexander Lukashenko is both the closest and the most turbulent ally. Never in twenty-six years have tensions been so concrete: for the president, the Kremlin's “puppeteers” intend to make his country a vassal. At the end of July, 33 Russians, suspected mercenaries of the opaque private military group Wagner, reputed to be close to Russian power, were arrested, accused of preparing a "massacre" in Minsk.
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- Repression
- Alexander Lukashenko
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