Belarus’ opposition candidate for president went into hiding the night before challenging the country’s long-time leader, Alexander Lukashenko, yesterday in the country’s most dynamic election in a generation.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya left her apartment after authorities on Saturday arrested her campaign manager and detained one of her two top allies before the crucial vote. She voted publicly in Minsk yesterday afternoon.
Tikhanovskaya, a 37-year-old English teacher and translator, stood for election after authorities barred her husband, popular blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, from running and then jailed him.
Photo: EPA-EFE
She swiftly emerged as 65-year-old Lukashenko’s strongest rival and her rallies drew tens of thousands of supporters across the country.
Her presidential bid has sparked widespread calls for change in the ex-Soviet country of 9.5 million people, which Lukashenko has ruled with a firm grip for the past 26 years.
One polling station in central Minsk was unusually busy with voters standing in line for ballot papers, a reporter saw.
Many wore white bracelets after Tikhanovskaya urged her supporters to wear them.
“We are waiting for changes,” said one voter, a 60-year-old woman speaking on condition of anonymity.
She added that she voted for a “new president,” Tikhanovskaya, because she “promises us the possibility of choice and changes.”
Tikhanovskaya has said she is not a politician, describing herself as an “ordinary woman, a mother and wife.”
She has campaigned in an all-women team with the wife of one barred opposition chief and the campaign manager of another.
She has said that if she wins she will call fresh elections that include the entire opposition, including those in detention.
Political observers said that Lukashenko, who is seeking a sixth term, would rig the vote in the absence of international observers.
A record 41.7 percent of voters took part in early voting, the Central Election Commission reported, with observers saying this made it easier to manipulate the count.
More than 45 percent of voters had cast ballots by noon, the commission said.
The country ramped up security measures on election day with police carrying machine guns checking vehicles entering Minsk. Government buildings were cordoned off by police.
Belarusians also reported problems with accessing Web sites of independent media.
Additional reporting by the Guardian
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