Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko took a secret oath of office Wednesday to begin his sixth term in office in the face of growing protests. When news of the secret oath of office was leaked to independent media, a surprising number of people gathered to protest, despite the fact that the capital’s main street was blocked by military and police, and at least 100 people were arrested by police.
After Lukashenko was secretly sworn in as the new president, the U.S. State Department said in a statement Wednesday that the U.S. does not consider Lukashenko to be the legitimately elected president of Belarus. The U.S. State Department spokesman said the August 9 presidential election in Belarus was neither free nor fair, and the final results announced were the result of vote fraud and fraud, which did not have the slightest legitimacy.
Washington called for a national dialogue in Belarus so that Belarusians can obtain the right to elect their own leader in a fair and free election in the presence of an international observer mission.
The United States called on the Belarusian authorities to release political prisoners and end the repression of peaceful demonstrators as a first step toward a sincere national dialogue.
Earlier, a German government spokesman also stated that the democratic legitimacy of the August presidential elections in Belarus was absent, and therefore Germany does not recognize Lukashenka, who was just sworn in as the new president, as the legitimate president.
In Germany’s view, the August presidential election in Belarus, which did not meet the minimum conditions for a democratic election, was neither free nor fair and was therefore rejected by the country’s people, and therefore the results of the election could not be recognized and Lukashenka could not consider himself democratically legitimate, even after the inauguration ceremony.
The German government also stated that the presidential inauguration was prepared in secret, without any witnesses, which speaks volumes. The German government also called on Belarus to release all political prisoners and demanded that the Minsk authorities refrain from using violence against their own people.
Belarusian President Lukashenko, who has been subjected to massive public demonstrations for weeks, was inaugurated on Wednesday in a very surprising turn of events that was only announced to the public after the swearing-in, and immediately sparked an even larger protest.
Recent Comments