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According to Belarusian law, the ceremony in which the president takes office must be broadcast live on state television channels. This law was now violated by Lukashenko, who decided to conduct the ceremony in secret and present the full facts to the people.
According to Belta, who controlled by the Lukashenko regime, several hundred people, including ministers, high-ranking officials and cultural figures, were present at the ceremony at the Independence Palace in Minsk. No other medium appears to have been invited.
For more than a month, tens of thousands of Belarusians have protested against electoral fraud in the presidential elections on August 9. The EU does not approve of the election result either. There has been an apparent manipulation of the voice and the infamous authoritarian Lukashenko prevented several competitors from performing, even imprisoning them.
That the protests continue is a big problem for the dictator. Apparently, he did not want to wait with the ceremony, despite the fact that the Belarusian president will be sworn in no later than two months after the elections. That would have given Lukashenko until October 9.
All of the above The times he has been sworn in as president, the ceremony has become a tool in the propaganda arsenal. Now, therefore, Lukashenko seems to have hoped the ceremony would be quietly bypassed, so as not to provoke further demonstrations.
Pavel Latushko, a member of the so-called Opposition Coordination Council, calls on his Telegram channel for Belarusian disobedience.
– For the Belarusians and for the international community, Lukashenko is nobody at all. That he now swears in as president is like a crowned mafia boss. Now we urge everyone to start civil disobedience immediately, says Pavel Latushko.
The state and the security apparatus has responded to the protests by arresting thousands of people. A large number of opposition leaders remain captive. Several have been exiled by the security service.
There are many reports and testimonies of torture and abuse against protesters.
Alexander Lukashenko was elected President of Belarus in 1994 and has since systematically dismantled all the democratic institutions of the country.
