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MINSK, September 24 / TASS /. The situation in Minsk on Thursday morning is calm and nothing recalls the protests that broke out on Wednesday after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko took office.
Traffic on the central highways and roads leading to the center of the Belarusian capital is normal for a Thursday morning, according to a TASS correspondent. However, social media users report that in some Minsk neighborhoods, drivers purposely slowed down to create traffic jams.
No signs of Wednesday’s rallies were seen on Victors and Dzerzhinsky avenues and other streets in central Minsk. A chain-link fence near the Obelisk of Minsk Hero City has been removed. There are no traffic restrictions on Independence Square. The Minsk metro operates normally.
At noon on Wednesday, Belarusian state media announced that Alexander Lukashenko had been sworn in at an unannounced inauguration ceremony at his Minsk residence. In the late afternoon, protesters took to the streets of Minsk when state television began broadcasting the ceremony. The protests took place in central Minsk and other areas of the city, including the suburbs. The security forces used water cannons and tear gas. According to human rights activists, more than 200 people were detained at the rallies.
Demonstrations at the national level have gripped Belarus following the presidential elections on August 9. According to the official results of the Central Election Commission, the current president Alexander Lukashenko won by an overwhelming majority, obtaining 80.10% of the votes. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the vote. However, she refused to acknowledge the result of the elections and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests broke out in central Minsk and other Belarusian cities. During the early post-election period, the demonstrations escalated into fierce clashes between protesters and the police. The current unrest is being applauded by the opposition Coordination Council, which has been drumming for more protests. In response, the Belarusian authorities have criticized the ongoing unrest and demanded that these unauthorized demonstrations stop.
