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Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Belarusian Opposition Calls for Civil Disobedience, New Elections


Wed 23 Sep 2020 | 09:24 PM
Ahmed Moamar

The Belarusian opposition called, today, Wednesday, for an immediate civil disobedience campaign, after the inauguration ceremony of Alexander Lukashenko as president. The opposition leaders also demanded new presidential elections.

Lukashenko's winning of the sixth term is still disputed in the country and in the members of the European Union (EU).

These calls coincide with the swearing-in of President Lukashenko for a new term in a surprise inauguration without prior announcement.

The newly inaugurated president is an ally of the Russian leader and the two presidents held talk's days ago to unify Russia and Belarus in one state.

A member of the Opposition Coordinating Council, Pavel Latushko, said on social media that the opposition will never accept Lukashenko's victory in the election and demand new presidential elections.

"We call on everyone to start a campaign of civil disobedience immediately," Latushko added.

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Belarus is witnessing a wave of protests since Lukashenko won a new presidential term in the elections that were held on the ninth of last month.

On Wednesday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was sworn in for a new presidential term, during an inauguration ceremony held at the Minsk Independence Palace without announcing in advance.

The official Belarusian News Agency "Belta" confirmed that Lukashenko officially assumed the duties of the country's president for a sixth consecutive term, noting that the inauguration ceremony was held with the presence of several hundreds of people, including senior officials, members of the House of Representatives, the Republic Council, federal and local officials and directors of official media, in addition to prominent figures in the field of science, culture and sport.

Belta stated that Lukashenko took the constitutional oath, pledging to serve the people of Belarus, respect and protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens.

He vowed to abide by Belarusian constitution, defend it and perform his duties "in good conscience.

During the ceremony, Lukashenko expressed his "extreme pride" for the citizens of his country who "successfully passed the test of the strength of their beliefs," describing the day of his inauguration as "the day of our broad and fateful victory."

He continued to say that citizens not only chose a president for the country, but also defended our values, our peaceful lives, our sovereignty and our independence, and we still have to do a lot of things in this direction.

This comes against the backdrop of the continuing wave of widespread protests that swept Belarus after the announcement last August of the Lukashenko investigation, which has been leading the country since 1994, overwhelmingly winning more than 80% of the votes in the presidential elections, and the oppositions refusal to acknowledge the official results of the vote.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian presidency ( the Kremlin), said that both the Russian presidents, Vladimir Putin, and his counterpart Belarusian, Alexander Lukashenko, began their talks in Sochi, Russia on September 14.

Peskov indicated that the meeting has no scheduled time limits.

The two leaders seek to merge their countries into a unifies state with one army.

The Belarusian presidents plane landed at Sochi airport earlier today, in the first journey of Lukashenko outside his country after his victory, in early August, in the presidential elections.

Putin and his guest will hold a "face to face" meeting to discuss the pivotal aspects of the development of relations between the two allied countries, and the strategic partnership between them.

The meeting is expected to focus on the prospects for integration between Russia and Belarus within the framework of the federal state and the most prominent joint projects in the commercial, economic, cultural and humanitarian fields, as well as projects in the energy field.

It is not planned to sign official documents or hold a joint press conference at the end of the meeting.

The Belarusian president had previously announced that he intended to "put points on the letters" on some sensitive issues in relations between Moscow and Minsk.