In an interview with RFI, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya discussed the democratic forces’ strategy ahead of the presidential ‘election’ scheduled by the Lukashenka regime for January 26.
Below are the key points from the interview:
- Implications of the sham election for Belarusians and the West:
“My key message is that what the regime is organizing in Belarus has nothing to do with a real election. Belarusians understand this. And I can clearly see a strong consensus among our democratic partners that there can be no going back to business as usual with Minsk after January”.
- Strategy for Belarusians inside Belarus:
“In a society where repression has not stopped for a single day over the past four years, any kind of protest is now impossible, even peaceful. But there is a demand among Belarusians to take some action on that day. It’s clear no votes will be counted, and there will be no independent observers. However, we know the regime will pressure people to attend polling stations to show a false sense of mass participation. That’s why we are asking those forced to take part in this sham to vote against all candidates”.
- Strategy for Belarusians in exile:
“For Belarusians living abroad, who can act more openly, we intend to run a large-scale media campaign in the lead-up to the so-called ‘election’ day. On the day itself, there will be a major event in Warsaw. We are encouraging Belarusian diasporas in all countries to highlight the situation, draw attention to the regime’s repression and threats to our independence, and call for supporting our civil society. The global spotlight is no longer on Belarus, and we need to work hard to keep attention on the problems our country is facing”.
