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The main challenger for Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has refused to accept the autocratic president won 80% of the vote in Sunday’s election.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s campaign said results published Monday morning “completely contradict common sense”.
This follows thousands of arrests after protesters and insurgent police clashed in the capital Minsk and other cities.
A lack of control – no observers were present – has led to widespread fear of vote-rigging in the polls.
The election was held amid growing frustration with Mr Lukashenko’s leadership, with opposition balls drawing large crowds. The previous days saw a crackdown on activists and journalists.
The president has described opposition leaders as “sheep” controlled from abroad, and promised not to let the country fall apart.
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Mr Lukashenko won 80.23% of the vote, according to a preliminary count, with Ms Tikhanovskaya receiving 9.9%.
Mrs Tikhanovskaya entered the election in place of her husband with imprisonment and went on to win major opposition matches.
Mr Lukashenko, 65, has been in power since 1994.
What did Mrs Tikhanovskaya say?
The opposition candidate said he considered himself the winner and the authorities should consider how to hand over power peacefully.
“We have seen the authorities try to hold on to their positions by force,” she said.
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Reuters
Ms Tikhanovskaya says she wants the authorities to hand over power
“No matter how much we asked authorities not to involve their own people, we were not listened to.”
Her campaign said it would challenge the “number of forgeries” in the vote.
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“The election results announced by the Central Election Commission do not correspond to reality and contradict common sense,” said her spokeswoman Anna Krasulina.
But Mr Lukashenko regretted Ms Tikhanovskaya’s remarks.
“So Lukashenko, who is at the top of the power structure and at the head of state, after getting 80% of the vote, has to voluntarily hand over power to them,” the president said. “The orders come from there [abroad]. “
“Our response will be robust,” he added. “We will not let the country fall apart.”
What has been the international reaction?
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Belarusian counterpart on his victory, despite friction over accusations of a Russian plot that Mr Lukashenko had tried to link to the opposition.
The leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova and Azerbaijan have sent messages of support.
But the German government said it had “strong doubts” about the election and that minimum standards were not being met.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the election results to be published.
“Harassment and violent repression of peaceful Protestants has no place in Europe,” she said.
Meanwhile, Poland has convened an emergency EU summit to discuss the crisis.
‘Happy a loser’
Belarusian media and online experts offer expensive different narratives about the aftermath of the interview.
Belarus 24 TV accuses “provocateurs” of “blocking the functioning of polling stations”. It says “aggressive teens” who act on instructions received through [messaging app] Telegram tried to seize government buildings.
“The clashes were carried out by groups of aggressive-minded young people. Unfortunately, there are victims,” says another state channel, STV. “Those guilty of provocation are being held accountable.”
Belarus’s main government newspaper Segodnya did not name the protests. The headline simply states that “Lukashenko will be elected president” and the paper has congratulatory messages from world leaders.
Although pro-opposition online media have been hit by an internet blackout, there is a lively debate on social media.
“This is war. A war waged by a mad man against his people,” said well-known journalist Dmitry Halko on Facebook.
“Blood on faces, blood on clothes, blood on the asphalt. If this is victory, then I’m glad to be among the losers,” says writer Viktor Martsinovich.
What happened in Sunday’s protests?
Protesters took to the streets in central Minsk as soon as the vote ended. Many sing “Go Out” and other anti-government slogans.
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Reuters
Protestants asked Mr Lukashenko to resign
Police used stun grenades, rubber bullets and a water cannon.
Reports from a human rights group that a man had died proved untrue.
However, social media footage shows that a man who climbed in front of a police car had lost his grip when it accelerated, hitting his head.
The Interior Ministry said 50 civilians and 39 policemen were injured.
Three thousand people were arrested, the ministry added. About one third of them were in Minsk, and the rest in other cities such as Brest, Gomel and Grodno where similar protests took place.
What is the context?
President Lukashenko was first elected in 1994.
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EPA
Mr. Lukashenko cast his ballot at a polling station in Minsk
In the last vote in 2015, he was declared the winner with 83.5% of the vote. There were no serious challengers and election observers reported problems in counting and tabulating votes.
The campaign saw the rise of Ms Tikhanovskaya, 37, a former teacher who became a mother as a stay-at-home mom, until she was in the political spotlight.
After her husband was arrested and blocked from registering for the vote, she stepped in to take his place.
President Lukashenko dismissed Ms. Tikhanovskaya as a “poor little girl”, manipulated by foreign “puppet masters”.
On the eve of the election, Ms Tikhanovskaya’s team said her campaign manager had been arrested and would not be released until Monday.
And on Sunday, when people voted, Internet service was “significantly disrupted”, according to online monitor NetBlocks. Opposition leaders say this makes it harder to gather and share evidence of election fraud.
There were already concerns about a lack of control because observers were not invited to control the elections and more than 40% of the votes were cast for the elections.
Tens of thousands last month staged an escalating attack on the opposition to attend a protest in Minsk, the largest such demonstration in a decade.
Anger against Mr Lukashenko’s government is fueled in part by his reaction to coronavirus.
The president has downplayed the outbreak, advising citizens to drink vodka and use saunas to fight the disease.
Belarus, which has a population of 9.5 million, has reported nearly 70,000 cases and nearly 600 deaths.
