Lukashenko is in a hurry to be re-elected while Russia is in quarantine
The next presidential elections in Belarus will be held on August 9. The lower house of the Belarusian parliament voted for this date today, a PlitNavigator correspondent reports.
Previously, there was an opinion that Alexander Lukashenko would be re-elected for the sixth time on August 30. Although this is the deadline provided for by the Belarusian constitution, it is Old Man’s birthday. It would be symbolic.
“If the Chinese coronavirus does not go away, this will be another show,” opposition blogger Eduard Palchis wrote in his Telegram channel.
However, Belarusian political scientist Igor Tyshkevich, who lives in Kyiv, believes that the point is precisely to get re-elected before the fuss around the coronavirus subsides. Especially in Russia.
“Russia will emerge from quarantine until June. After this, the question of the financial crisis, the oil industry, reformatting the economy. It's still a month. Thus, Russia will not have time for Belarus for another two months. This is already important. There will hardly be time to develop a network of field workers and a media company. Telegrams and social networks are not as strong as Moscow would like,” Tyshkevich said on his YouTube channel.
In his opinion, “The Russian Federation will most likely try to play in the Belarusian elections, but not in order to bring down, but in order to see which of Lukashenko’s opponents is alive and who can be brought under its belt.”
Opposition observer Artem Shraibman believes that Lukashenko managed to neutralize the opposition by calling elections earlier. He points out that on the eve of the announcement of the date of expression of will, bloggers disloyal to the country were arrested throughout the country, one of whom, Sergei Tikhanovsky, announced his intention to run for the presidency.
“Elections are on August 9. This means that documents for submitting initiative groups must be submitted before May 15. Those who didn’t have time are resting. Tikhanovsky is sitting, the opposition primaries are in a swamp, and there is only a week left. Clever and predictable at the same time. The middle of summer was chosen for demobilization so that students would not yet return from vacation. No problem with her turnout. Apparently, polls show the bottom of the ratings, and the first signs of politicization have already begun to appear across the country,” Shreibman wrote in his Telegram channel.
Lukashenko is rushing to get re-elected while Russia is in quarantine.