It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
President of Belarus inaugurated in unannounced ceremony, despite ongoing protests
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes the oath of office during his unannounced inauguration ceremony in Minsk on Wednesday.
President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus began his sixth term of office Wednesday during an inauguration ceremony that officials did not announce in advance after weeks of mass protests against his reelection, which opposition activists maintain was rigged.
State news agency Belta reported that Lukashenko’s swearing-in ceremony took place in the capital of Minsk with several hundred top government officials, lawmakers, representatives of media organizations and other prominent figures present.
Lukashenko, 66, took an oath in Belarusian with his right hand on the country’s Constitution. The head of the country’s central election commission handed him the official ID card of the president of Belarus.
“The day of assuming the post of the president is the day of our victory, convincing and fateful,” Lukashenko said at the ceremony. “We were not just electing the president of the country — we were defending our values, our peaceful life, sovereignty and independence.”
Opponents in Belarus, including the second-place finisher in the presidential election, and representatives of European governments said the absence of public involvement in the inauguration only proved that the authoritarian Lukashenko lacked a valid mandate.
“Even after this ceremony today, Mr. Lukashenko cannot claim democratic legitimization, which would be the condition to recognize him as the legitimate president of Belarus,” Steffen Seibert, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, said. He called the secrecy “very telling.”
Lukashenko has run Belarus, an ex-Soviet nation of 9.5 million people, with an iron fist for 26 years. Official results of the Aug. 9 election had him winning 80% of the vote. His strongest opponent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, got 10%.
Tsikhanouskaya, who is in exile in neighboring Lithuania after being forced to leave Belarus, has not accepted the outcome of the election as valid. Neither have the thousands of Belarusians who continue to demand Lukashenko’s resignation during more than six weeks of mass protests.
Tsikhanouskaya called the inauguration an attempt by Lukashenko to “declare himself legitimate.” She said “the people haven’t handed him a new mandate.”
“I, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, am the only leader that has been elected by the Belarusian people. And our goal right now is to build the new Belarus together,” she said in a video statement from Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital.
The United States and the European Union have questioned the election and criticized the brutal police crackdown on peaceful protesters during the first few days of demonstrations.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius called Wednesday’s inauguration ceremony “such a farce.”
“Forged elections. Forged inauguration. The former president of Belarus does not become less former. Quite the contrary. His illegitimacy is a fact with all the consequences that this entails,” Linkevicius said on Twitter.
The time and location of the inauguration ceremony were not publicized in advance. Law enforcement officers blocked off central areas of Minsk on Wednesday morning, and public transportation services were suspended.
The Viasna human rights group said several protesters were detained near the Palace of Independence, where the ceremony took place, holding banners saying, “The king has no clothes” and “The victory [will belong to] the people.”
Alexander Klaskousky, an independent Minsk-based analyst, said the secrecy surrounding the president’s inauguration illustrated the threat the ongoing unrest poses to Lukashenko’s grip on power. “Those who officially [get] 80% of the votes don’t act like that,” Klaskousky said.
Many leaders of the opposition on the streets have been arrested or forced to leave the country. One leading activist, Pavel Latushko, compared Lukashenko’s inauguration to a “gathering of thieves.”
“For us, the citizens of Belarus, for the international community, he is a nobody. An unfortunate error of history and a disgrace of the civilized world,” Latushko said on the messaging app Telegram. “We will never agree with the falsification [of the election] and are demanding a new vote. We urge everyone to engage in indefinite civil disobedience!”
23.09.2020 15:0
Ukraine to hold urgent consultations on Lukashenko's 'secret' inauguration - Kuleba
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will hold urgent meetings and consultations to determine Ukraine's position regarding the inauguration and political status of Alexander Lukashenko.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this during his visit to Zakarpattia region on Wednesday, September 23, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
"The inauguration was secret. No foreign ambassador was invited, even the ambassador of the Russian Federation that fully supports Lukashenko. Therefore, regarding the assessment of Lukashenko's inauguration and political status, we will hold urgent meetings and consultations to decide on our position," Kuleba said.
He said that Ukraine's position on the events in Belarus is very clear.
"The elections in Belarus were not free, fair and transparent," Kuleba said.
On September 23, Lukashenko took office as President of Belarus. The inauguration was not announced in advance for the first time, which came as a surprise to journalists and Belarusian society. In addition, according to the law "On the President of the Republic of Belarus," the swearing-in ceremony must be broadcast on television and radio. However, according to Belarusian opposition media, state channels aired TV series during the inauguration.
Belarus: Alexander Lukashenko inaugurated as president 'in secret' following disputed election By Euronews with AP • last updated: 23/09/2020 - Alexander Lukashenko has been sworn in as president. - CopyrightPul Pervogo [Belarus Presidential Press Office telegram channel]
President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has assumed his sixth term of office in an inauguration ceremony that wasn't announced in advance.
State news agency Belta reported that Wednesday's ceremony is taking place in the capital of Minsk, with several hundred top government officials present.
It comes after six weeks of mass protests against the official results of the August 9 presidential election that resulted in Lukashenko's reelection after 26 years in office in office. The opposition in Belarus has challenged the election as rigged.
According to the official results, Lukashenko, who has run the ex-Soviet nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist, won 80 per cent of the vote. The United States and the European Union have also criticised the violent police crackdown on post-election protests in Belarus.
According to a post on the state media's Telegram account, the inauguration ceremony took place at 10.30 am CEST at the Palace of Independence in the centre of Minsk.
"Putting his right hand on the Constitution, Alexsander Lukashenko took the oath in Belarusian," it stated. "Then he signed the act of taking the oath, after which the chairman of the Central Commission of Belarus on Elections and the Conduct of Republican Referendums, Lidiya Yermoshina, presented Alexander Lukashenko with an ID of the President of the Republic of Belarus."
Several hundred loyalists were invited to the ceremony, including senior officials, heads of state agencies, members of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic, according to reports.
As part of the inauguration ceremony, Lukashenko took an oath swearing to “serve the people of the Republic of Belarus, respect and protect rights and freedoms of people and citizens.”
Lukashenko's motorcade arrived at the official residence of the president at 10 am CEST, where "Lukashenka [has] officially assumed the presidency," state media reported.
In a post on Twitter, Minsk-based journalist Franak Viačorka reported that half of the city centre was closed off to avoid protests.
Protests demanding Lukashenko to resign have rocked the country daily since last month's election, with the largest rallies in Minsk attracting up to 200,000 people.
Lukashenko’s strongest election opponent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, got 10 per cent of the vote according to the official results. She didn’t accept the outcome of the election as valid. Neither did many European governments and thousands of Tsikhanouskaya’s supporters.
During the first three days of the protests, demonstrators faced a brutal crackdown, with police using truncheons and rubber bullets to disperse crowds. Several protesters died.
Amid international outrage, Belarusian authorities switched to prosecuting top activists and mass detentions, avoiding large-scale violence.
Hundreds have been arrested at weekly protests in Minsk and other cities across Belarus.
Many members of the Coordination Council that was formed by the opposition to push for a transition of power have been arrested or forced to leave the country.
Belarusian president sworn into office amid protests against his reelection
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony at the Palace of the Independence in Minsk
BELARUSIAN President Alexander Lukashenko assumed his sixth term of office today during an unannounced inauguration ceremony following weeks of mass protests against his re-election.
The swearing-in ceremony took place in the capital Minsk with several hundred government officials, legislators and media representatives in attendance.
Mr Lukashenko said: “The day of assuming the post of the president is the day of our victory, convincing and fateful.
“We were not just electing the president of the country, we were defending our values, our peaceful life, sovereignty and independence.”
Opposition leaders and a number of foreign governments claimed that the absence of public involvement in the ceremony underlined that the 66-year-old lacked a valid mandate.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffan Seibert said that the apparent secrecy around the event was “very telling.”
In August, Mr Lukashenko won 80 per cent of votes, but opposition activists claim that the election was rigged.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who received 10 per cent of the votes and who is in exile in Lithuania, called the inauguration an attempt by Mr Lukashenko to “declare himself legitimate,” and said that “the people haven’t handed him a new mandate.”
“I, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, am the only leader that has been elected by the Belarusian people,” she said in a video statement.
“And our goal right now is to build the new Belarus together.”
Protests demanding that Mr Lukashenko step down have rocked the country daily since the election, with the largest rallies in Minsk attracting up to 200,000 of the country’s 9.5 million people.
Police have used truncheons and rubber bullets to disperse crowds. Several protesters are reported to have died, and more than 7,000 said to have been detained.
Human-rights group Viasna said that several protesters were detained near the Palace of Independence, where the ceremony took place, holding banners saying “The king has no clothes” and “The victory (will belong to) the people.”
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