The long-standing Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is facing the biggest challenge to his 26-year rule amid a wave of mass protests and strikes
The current President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has said that there will not be a new presidential election in the country “until you kill me”.
The long-standing Belarusian president is now facing the biggest challenge in his 26-year rule of the nation amid a wave of mass protests and strikes following his re-election on the 9th of August.
“We held elections already. Until you kill me, there will be no other elections,” he was quoted as to saying by the Tut.by media outlet when speaking to employees at a tractor plant on Monday.
This comes after the Prime Minister of Lebanon has called for a day of national mourning on Wednesday after a huge explosive blast has killed at least 100 people in the capital city of Beirut and injured more than 4,000 people.
Earlier, the UK’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said that Britain would not be accepting the results of the “fraudulent” election for the Belarusian Presidency.
Mr Raab has called for an urgent investigation into the election ballot’s “serious flaws” and has also condemned the acts of violence by the Belarusian authorities to suppress the peaceful protests that have followed as a result of the re-election of Alexander Lukashenko.
He said that the UK government would be working with international partners in order to sanction those who are responsible and hold the Belarusian authorities to account.
Mr Raab tweeted on Monday:
“The world has watched with horror at the violence used by the Belarusian authorities to suppress the peaceful protests that followed this fraudulent presidential election,”
“The UK does not accept the results.”
The statement also said: “We urgently need an independent investigation through the OSCE into the flaws that rendered the election unfair, as well as the grisly repression that followed.”
Lukashenko also said on Monday that he would be willing to share power over the nation and would perhaps change the constitution, but said that he was not willing to do this under pressure from the nation’s protesters.
“You should never expect me to do something under pressure,” he was quoted as saying by the Belta news agency.
“They [new elections] won’t happen.”
This comes after three people are now believed to have tragically died after a train derailment in Aberdeenshire, with one person currently unaccounted for, following storms occurring in the area. Torrential rain, as well as thunderstorms across the country, have caused a great deal of flooding and travel disruption across many areas within of central and eastern Scotland.
Speaking in a video address from Lithuania, Tsikhanouskaya called for the creation of a legal mechanism to ensure that a new and truly fair presidential election could take place in the country.
“I am ready to take responsibility and act as a national leader during this period,” she said.
Ms Tsikhanouskaya fled her home country of Belarus last week following the election results, claiming that she had gone to Lithuania for the safety of her children, however, she soon began releasing videos calling for the anti-government protests in Belarus to continue.
