Self-exiled Belarus presidential candidate Tikhanovskaya demands vote recount & end of ‘bloodbath’ on streets

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who has fled to Lithuania, urged the Belarusian authorities to stop the “violence” and engage in dialogue with protesters. She asked her supporters to hold peaceful rallies during the weekend.

In a video posted on YouTube, Tikhanovskaya called on her supporters to commit “legal, non-violent” actions, while accusing the government of turning “peaceful protests into a bloodbath.”

We must stop the violence on the streets of Belarusian cities. I ask the authorities to stop it, and to engage in dialogue.

She appealed to city mayors to “act as organizers” of peaceful demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday.

Tikhanovskaya repeated the claim that the election victory has been stolen from her, citing “copies of polling station protocols” as proof.

“Belarusians will not want to live under the existing authorities ever again. The majority does not believe in [Lukashenko’s] victory,” she said. 

The politician urged her supporters to “defend their vote” by signing an online petition demanding a full recount of the votes with “independent” monitors present, and to launch an official probe into the election.

Tikhanovskaya left for Lithuania after President Aleksandr Lukashenko was re-elected for a sixth term in office last week. His victory sparked accusations of vote-rigging and triggered protests and clashes with police throughout the country.

The authorities, meanwhile, insist that the vote count was fair. Lukashenko claimed that the protests were being incited from abroad, and vowed not to allow further rioting and escalation.

During a highly contentious election campaign, marred by accusations of the government cracking down on opponents, Lukashenko repeatedly said that foreign powers were seeking to stage provocations and disrupt the voting process.

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