Belarus rally for presidential challenger largest in years
Source: AP
By YURAS KARMANAU
MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Belarus saw its largest opposition demonstration in years as about 5,000 people rallied Sunday to support a candidate challenging Belarus’ longtime authoritarian leader in next month’s presidential vote.
President Alexander Lukashenko is expected to easily win a sixth term in the Aug. 9 election after 26 years in power, but simmering discontent over the country’s economic woes has posed a challenge to his rule.
Lukashenko has dismissed the coronavirus pandemic as “psychosis” and shunned any lockdown measures, but the economic fallout from the outbreak has badly battered the 9.5-million nation’s Soviet-style economy. The World Bank has forecast that the Belarusian economy will shrink by at least 4% this year, the largest decline in a quarter century.
Belarus election officials on Tuesday barred Lukashenko’s two main rivals from entering the race, leaving Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, wife of jailed popular opposition blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, as the most visible challenger.
Belarusians attend a meeting in support of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, candidate for the presidential election, in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday July 19, 2020. The presidential election in Belarus is scheduled for August 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Read more: https://apnews.com/e9acd5c5f4eac845d2bd310bd5d2cb20
= new reply since forum marked as read
"I already asked Putin - but I wanted a second opinion."
