MARK MACKINNONSENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT
WARSAW SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes his oath of office during his inauguration ceremony at the Palace of the Independence in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020.
ANDREI STASEVICH/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko inaugurated himself for a sixth term in office on Wednesday, in a surprise ceremony held amid weeks of mass protests by those who believe Mr. Lukashenko lost an Aug. 9 presidential election.
The inauguration, which was carried out shortly after soldiers formed a protective ring around the presidential compound in Minsk, was immediately denounced as a farce by opposition leaders, who again called on Mr. Lukashenko to leave power.
Fresh protests were expected in Minsk and other Belarusian cities on Wednesday. There have been demonstrations every day since the Aug. 9 vote. Despite Mr. Lukashenko’s claim to have won more than 80 per cent of the vote, most Belarusians believe the election was won by opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
Mr. Lukashenko’s defiant move will increase pressure on Western policy makers to formulate a more coherent response to events in Belarus. Several prominent members of the opposition told The Globe and Mail that Canada should impose tough new sanctions targeting Mr. Lukashenko and his inner circle.
Pavel Latushko, a former cabinet minister who joined the opposition, said the inauguration ceremony – which the official Belta news service says was attended by “several hundred people” – “looked more like a meeting of thieves.” He called on foreign governments not to ignore it.
“As of today, [Mr. Lukashenko] is no longer the president of the Republic of Belarus. He is just the head of OMON [the riot police],” Mr. Latushko said in Warsaw, the Polish capital where he fled last month after being threatened with arrest for opposing the regime he was once part of. “For us, citizens of Belarus, for the world community, he is now nobody.”
Mr. Latushko praised Canada’s call, along with 16 other members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, for the creation of a mission of experts that would investigate the alleged election fraud, as well as the regime’s use of violence against protesters. But he said in an interview that Ottawa should do more.
“We are waiting for a very strong and very honest position of Canada towards the process in Belarus,” said Mr. Latushko, who is a member of a seven-person Co-ordination Council appointed by Ms. Tikhanovskaya to oversee what the opposition hopes will be a peaceful transfer of power.
One step Canada could take, Mr. Latushko said, would be to declare that after Nov. 5 – the last day of Mr. Lukashenko’s current five-year term in office – it will no longer recognize him as president.
The opposition has also called for Canada and other Western governments to adopt economic sanctions and travel bans targeting Mr. Lukashenko and his inner circle.
The European Union has drawn up a list of 40 individuals accused of involvement in the election fraud and subsequent crackdown. However, a veto by Cyprus – an EU member with close economic ties to Russia – makes it likely EU-wide sanctions will not come to pass.
The Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have gone ahead with their own sanctions against Mr. Lukashenko and 29 other Belarusian officials, and Poland is believed to be close to doing the same. Belarusian opposition leaders say that, with the EU’s position tangled, they’re looking to Canada, the United States and Britain move ahead with sanctions as a signal to Mr. Lukashenko that there will be consequences.
Canada imposed sanctions on Belarus in 2006 – barring all but humanitarian exports to the country – but removed the measures in 2016 as part of an effort to engage the Lukashenko regime. A press release at the time said the Liberal government believed Belarus had made “progress in key areas,” including a decrease in “the levels of violence and intimidation” used by the regime.
Andrei Sannikov, an opposition politician who ran for president against Mr. Lukashenko in 2010 – another election marred by allegations of fraud – said lowering the sanctions was a tactical error by the Trudeau government.
“It is time to recognize that it was a mistake, and for Canada to introduce unilateral sanctions,” Mr. Sannikov said in an interview in Warsaw, where he has been based since being arrested following the 2010 election. “Canada can do much more than it is doing today.”
Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s office said last week that Canada “is closely engaged with allies and members of the international community and considering all options when it comes to ensuring human rights are upheld” in Belarus. Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said Canada should reinstate the sanctions it lifted in 2016, and use the so-called Magnitsky Act to go further and target specific members of Mr. Lukashenko’s regime.
- with reporting by Michelle Carbert in Ottawa
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes his oath of office during his inauguration ceremony at the Palace of the Independence in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020.
ANDREI STASEVICH/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko inaugurated himself for a sixth term in office on Wednesday, in a surprise ceremony held amid weeks of mass protests by those who believe Mr. Lukashenko lost an Aug. 9 presidential election.
The inauguration, which was carried out shortly after soldiers formed a protective ring around the presidential compound in Minsk, was immediately denounced as a farce by opposition leaders, who again called on Mr. Lukashenko to leave power.
Fresh protests were expected in Minsk and other Belarusian cities on Wednesday. There have been demonstrations every day since the Aug. 9 vote. Despite Mr. Lukashenko’s claim to have won more than 80 per cent of the vote, most Belarusians believe the election was won by opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
Mr. Lukashenko’s defiant move will increase pressure on Western policy makers to formulate a more coherent response to events in Belarus. Several prominent members of the opposition told The Globe and Mail that Canada should impose tough new sanctions targeting Mr. Lukashenko and his inner circle.
Pavel Latushko, a former cabinet minister who joined the opposition, said the inauguration ceremony – which the official Belta news service says was attended by “several hundred people” – “looked more like a meeting of thieves.” He called on foreign governments not to ignore it.
“As of today, [Mr. Lukashenko] is no longer the president of the Republic of Belarus. He is just the head of OMON [the riot police],” Mr. Latushko said in Warsaw, the Polish capital where he fled last month after being threatened with arrest for opposing the regime he was once part of. “For us, citizens of Belarus, for the world community, he is now nobody.”
Mr. Latushko praised Canada’s call, along with 16 other members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, for the creation of a mission of experts that would investigate the alleged election fraud, as well as the regime’s use of violence against protesters. But he said in an interview that Ottawa should do more.
“We are waiting for a very strong and very honest position of Canada towards the process in Belarus,” said Mr. Latushko, who is a member of a seven-person Co-ordination Council appointed by Ms. Tikhanovskaya to oversee what the opposition hopes will be a peaceful transfer of power.
One step Canada could take, Mr. Latushko said, would be to declare that after Nov. 5 – the last day of Mr. Lukashenko’s current five-year term in office – it will no longer recognize him as president.
The opposition has also called for Canada and other Western governments to adopt economic sanctions and travel bans targeting Mr. Lukashenko and his inner circle.
The European Union has drawn up a list of 40 individuals accused of involvement in the election fraud and subsequent crackdown. However, a veto by Cyprus – an EU member with close economic ties to Russia – makes it likely EU-wide sanctions will not come to pass.
The Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have gone ahead with their own sanctions against Mr. Lukashenko and 29 other Belarusian officials, and Poland is believed to be close to doing the same. Belarusian opposition leaders say that, with the EU’s position tangled, they’re looking to Canada, the United States and Britain move ahead with sanctions as a signal to Mr. Lukashenko that there will be consequences.
Canada imposed sanctions on Belarus in 2006 – barring all but humanitarian exports to the country – but removed the measures in 2016 as part of an effort to engage the Lukashenko regime. A press release at the time said the Liberal government believed Belarus had made “progress in key areas,” including a decrease in “the levels of violence and intimidation” used by the regime.
Andrei Sannikov, an opposition politician who ran for president against Mr. Lukashenko in 2010 – another election marred by allegations of fraud – said lowering the sanctions was a tactical error by the Trudeau government.
“It is time to recognize that it was a mistake, and for Canada to introduce unilateral sanctions,” Mr. Sannikov said in an interview in Warsaw, where he has been based since being arrested following the 2010 election. “Canada can do much more than it is doing today.”
Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s office said last week that Canada “is closely engaged with allies and members of the international community and considering all options when it comes to ensuring human rights are upheld” in Belarus. Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said Canada should reinstate the sanctions it lifted in 2016, and use the so-called Magnitsky Act to go further and target specific members of Mr. Lukashenko’s regime.
- with reporting by Michelle Carbert in Ottawa
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