When Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner of the phony election, huge crowds came out to roar their rage and disbelief
in the heart of Europe grisly acts were being committed this week, with the approval of Russia and China, the mildest of European protests and near-silence from America. An election was rigged; the challenger was forced to leave the country; protesters are being beaten and jailed. The perpetrator is Alexander Lukashenko, a 65-year-old dictator who has ruled the former Soviet republic of Belarus for most of its 30 years of independence. With luck, though, he may have overreached.
This time, however, he appears to have lost most of the population, thanks partly to his extraordinary incompetence in dealing with covid-19. They queued up to vote for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a 37-year-old former teacher who became an accidental candidate after her popular vlogger husband was jailed to prevent him from running. She made only two big promises: to release all political prisoners and to hold a proper election within six months. The authorities said she had won only 9.
The Western response has been feeble. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, urged Mr Lukashenko to count votes “accurately”. Angela Merkel’s spokesman expressed “great doubts” about the conduct of the election. Donald Trump said nothing. Access to the country has been shut down, sopictures are limited. But the main reason for Western acquiescence is that Mr Lukashenko has skilfully portrayed himself as the guarantor of national sovereignty.
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