Photo Credit: Euro News
Enormous demonstrations in the streets of Belarus began about two months ago and continue as a result of the possibly falsified presidential election on August 9.
About 100,000 protesters gather every Sunday against President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko in hopes of him giving up his power. Lukashenko is in a troublesome position, “the longer the stalemate with the opposition continues the more likely he is to lose control of his security forces, to face a possible collapse of the economy” and if he were to resort to “overwhelming, deadly force against protesters could culminate in a full-scale revolution as…Belarusian people run out of patience,” according to Foreign Policy.
The police force has used water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades to divide the protesters who gather against President Lukashenko. The protesters have also been beaten and heavily sprayed with orange coloured water as a way to mark them to be detained. Meanwhile, some protesters have fought back by throwing objects, such as bottles, at the police and shield themselves using umbrellas, according to BBC News.
Former presidential opponent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has left the country in fear for her safety and is now exiled in Lithuania, has selected Oct. 25 as a deadline for Lukashenko to step-down or continue relentless strikes that will affect the country. If Lukashenko has not resigned, ended the violence, and released political personnel who are imprisoned, then “on Oct 26, all enterprises will begin a strike, all roads will be blocked, state-owned stores will no longer have any sales,” Tsikhanouskaya stated, according to The Washington Post.
On Sunday, October 18, thousands of people protested again in the streets of Minsk, the capital of Belarus. The demonstrators held signs that mocked President Lukashenko who is in his sixth term in office, and the people also chanted for him to remove himself as president. The Interior Ministry of Belarus has threatened the protesters by using firearms “if need be,” and the demonstrations “have become organized and extremely radical,” according to the Associated Press.
