{"id":25212,"date":"2020-08-18T07:39:11","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T11:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=25212"},"modified":"2020-08-18T07:39:11","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T11:39:11","slug":"until-you-kill-me-therell-be-no-other-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=25212","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Until You Kill Me, There&#8217;ll Be No Other Election!&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>&#8220;Until You Kill Me, There&#8217;ll Be No Other Election!&#8221;: Belarus&#8217; Lukashenko Defiant As Strikes, Protests Spread<\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n<p>After a week of violent protests following Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko&#8217;s re-election\u00a0for a sixth term he issued a surprise concession on Monday, saying\u00a0<strong>he&#8217;d be willing to hand over power after a referendum<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll put the changes to a referendum, and I\u2019ll hand over my constitutional powers,\u201d\u00a0Lukashenko said as cited in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-belarus-election\/im-not-a-saint-lukashenko-offers-to-hand-over-power-after-referendum-idUSKCN25D0IJ\"><em>Reuters<\/em><\/a>. However this is unlikely to pacify the demonstrators, given he emphasized\u00a0<strong>\u201cBut not under pressure or because of the street\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 though it&#8217;s being widely interpreted as a sign he is indeed feeling the pressure given the rare potential compromise gesture.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/index.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1295284133179076608&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Funtil-you-kill-me-therell-be-no-other-election-belarus-lukashenko-defiant-strikes&amp;siteScreenName=zerohedge&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=223fc1c4%3A1596143124634&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1295284133179076608\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div class=\"ad__wrapper-element\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cYes, I\u2019m not a saint. You know my harsh side. I\u2019m not eternal. But if you drag down the first president\u00a0<strong>you\u2019ll drag down neighboring countries and all the rest<\/strong>,\u201d he added, apparently referencing the years-long political East-West tug-of-war centered on the pro-Russia vs. pro-EU fault line which fragmented Ukraine into bloody conflict.<\/p>\n<p>He had previously\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/international\/europe\/512250-russia-offers-military-help-to-belarus\">told citizens in a separate address<\/a>:\u00a0<strong>\u201cNATO troops are at our gates. Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and our native Ukraine are ordering us to hold new elections.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But ultimately his speech before a\u00a0large state-run industrial plant was less of a concession than\u00a0optimistic Western reports might make it out.\u00a0He said this, still defiant and angered, amid heckles and chants demanding the end of the 26-year rule, something extremely unusual in the former Soviet satellite country.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;We held the election. Until you kill me, there will be no other election,&#8221;\u00a0<\/strong>he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-53796436\">said<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, considered his main opponent, came in second with results showing\u00a010.12% of the vote.\u00a0Tsikhanouskaya fled to Lithuania where she&#8217;s now giving video addresses to the country,\u00a0<strong>urging that law enforcement and all security personnel refuse to recognize the\u00a0Lukashenko government<\/strong>\u00a0and &#8220;switch sides&#8221;. There&#8217;s been some level of anecdotal evidence captured in protest videos over the past days to suggest this has happened to a small degree.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/belarusprotests.jpg?itok=NuYyVf6R\" data-image-external-href=\"\" data-image-href=\"\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/belarusprotests.jpg?itok=NuYyVf6R\" data-link-option=\"0\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/belarusprotests.jpg?itok=MqhbbdY8 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 1280px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/belarusprotests.jpg?itok=MqhbbdY8 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 480px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/belarusprotests.jpg?itok=MqhbbdY8 1x, https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/belarusprotests.jpg?itok=MqhbbdY8 2x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 1024px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/belarusprotests.jpg?itok=MqhbbdY8 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"all and (min-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/belarusprotests.jpg?itok=NuYyVf6R 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"caption caption-img\" role=\"group\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/belarusprotests.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"a55c0f01-315a-4f0a-a54c-ced8eb3cfaa1\" data-responsive-image-style=\"inline_images\" \/><figcaption><em>Massive weekend opposition rally in the center of Minsk, via AP.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"ad__wrapper-element\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>\u201cI am ready to take responsibility and act as a national leader during this period,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Tsikhanouskaya\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-belarus-election\/im-not-a-saint-lukashenko-offers-to-hand-over-power-after-referendum-idUSKCN25D0IJ\">said<\/a>\u00a0in a direct challenge only likely to further entrench Lukashenko and his supporters. They&#8217;ve vowed not to let his fate be dictated from the outside or external interference in a crisis increasingly drawing in the US, Europe, and ally Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Moscow has meanwhile\u00a0<strong>offered military support<\/strong>\u00a0should it be called upon by\u00a0Minsk. &#8220;The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had told Lukashenko Moscow was\u00a0<strong>ready to assist Belarus in accordance with a collective military pact if necessary\u00a0<\/strong>and that external pressure was being applied to the country,&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-belarus-election\/russia-says-military-help-available-for-belarus-huge-protest-held-in-minsk-idUSKCN25C08E\">Reuters reported<\/a>\u00a0over the weekend, citing an official statement.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Critics have alleged the Aug. 9 election was rigged:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/index.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1293913629985615875&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Funtil-you-kill-me-therell-be-no-other-election-belarus-lukashenko-defiant-strikes&amp;siteScreenName=zerohedge&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=223fc1c4%3A1596143124634&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1293913629985615875\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>But momentum is gaining against\u00a0Lukashenko&#8217;s rule, given also as of the weekend state TV employees walked off set and joined the growing tens of thousands of striking workers across the country.<\/p>\n<p>Continue reading at:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/geopolitical\/until-you-kill-me-therell-be-no-other-election-belarus-lukashenko-defiant-strikes\">https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/geopolitical\/until-you-kill-me-therell-be-no-other-election-belarus-lukashenko-defiant-strikes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Until You Kill Me, There&#8217;ll Be No Other Election!&#8221;: Belarus&#8217; Lukashenko Defiant As Strikes, Protests Spread<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}