Growing popularity of opposition threatens incumbent in presidential election

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 03 Aug 2020 by Alex Teddy
On July 30 over 60 000 people attended an opposition candidate's demonstration. Svetlana Tishanouskaya is running for president because her husband who was a candidate has been jailed. Public opinion is tightly controlled in Belarus. Such a turnout for an opposition rally is unprecedented. Her rallies have continued every day but without such huge numbers. President Lukashenka is seeking his sixth term. Polling day is on August 9. He announced that he has recovered from coronavirus. He has accused Russia of sending mercenaries to destabilize the country. Lukashenka announced told the people that he has had meetings with his security chiefs to prepare to quell mass disorder. Clearly, he is not optimistic about the result of the election. His critics say he shall resort to blatant cheating to win. On July 31 Belarus arrested 32 Wagner mercenaries. They are all Russian citizens who said they were en route to a Middle Eastern country. Some of them had Sudanese currency on them. The men were possibly arrested on a tip off from a Western country. Russia has demanded the release of the men. Ukraine has sought the extradition of 28 of them for allegedly helping pro-Russian rebels previously.

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