Belarus leader ‘has no right to run again’
Opponents already have called for the allegedly fraudulent weekend elections, that gave Mr Lukashenko a third term in office, to be repeated.
“We are demanding a repeat election without the participation of Lukashenko. For us, this is very important. He does not have the constitutional right” to run again, Mr Milinkevich said.
He was referring to the 2004 referendum that approved changing the constitution to end term limits for the president.
Mr Milinkevich urged supporters, camped in a freezing central square last night, to keep up their daily demonstrations against authoritarian Lukashenko, and called for a large show of strength on Saturday.
“We will stay here until the 25th, and on the 25th we will gather here to fight for our future,” Mr Milinkevich told the crowd on the third day of protests.
Speaking in the glow from TV cameras after lighting on Oktyabrskaya Square was shut off, Mr Milinkevich said that “the authorities want to destroy this small city of freedom” - referring to a tent camp where dozens of demonstrators spent the night. “We will not let them do it.”
Halting the daily protests could have led to a loss of momentum, and removal of the tent camp could have been seen as ceding the square - both symbolically and physically - to the authorities.
Saturday is a key date for the opposition: the anniversary of the declaration of independence of the first, short-lived Belarusian republic in 1918, and a traditional day for Mr Lukashenko’s opponents to gather. Mr Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994, has become a pariah in the West for his relentless crackdown on opposition and independent media.
Mr Milinkevich has called him an “illegal, illegitimate president,” describing his official vote tally as “monstrously inflated”. He called for a new vote.
White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said the United States “will continue to stand with the people of Belarus”.
Since the polls closed in the presidential election Sunday, crowds have been gathering every evening in the square, but have mostly dispersed after a few hours.
About 10,000 gathered Sunday night - the largest rally thus far. The demonstration was extraordinary for its size and for the noninterference by police, who usually move quickly and harshly to break up unauthorised gatherings.
On Monday, far fewer showed up and most of them dispersed. Some young protesters set up a dozen tents in the square and about 250 people remained overnight.
Police harassed people entering the square, but made no moves to crack down on the demonstrations.
European Union ambassadors visited the tent camp to show support for opponents of a leader branded a dictator by the West.
International observers have said Sunday’s election was neither free nor fair, and Europe’s main human rights organisation called it a “farce”. The United States has called for a new election.
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