March 21, 2006
Belarus: Protesters Remain On Minsk Square
Protesters on October Sqare on March 21 (RFE/RL)
Some 200 demonstrators remain in central Minsk following an overnight vigil to protest official election results giving President Alyaksandr Lukashenka a third term in office. Opposition supporters braved the threat of police action to stage a second night of protests in the capital's October (Kastrychnitskaya) Square following the March 19 vote. Russia approved the election, but both the European Union and the United States said the ballot was neither free nor fair. The opposition is calling for a new vote. But it is uncertain what impact, if any, the public protest will have. RFE/RL's Belarus Service has filed this report.
PRAGUE, March 21, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- It was a scene reminiscent of Ukraine's Orange Revolution in 2004, albeit on a much smaller scale.
Crowds gathered in the Belarusian capital Minsk continued their protest against the country's presidential election, echoing the opposition's call for a new vote.
Today's rally came after an evening protest on October Square on March 20 of some 7,000 people. Several hundred protesters endured freezing temperatures on the square overnight, dancing and chanting to keep themselves warm.
It was the second consecutive nighttime protest following the March 19 vote, which saw incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka comfortably returned to his post for five more years. On the night of the vote, some 20,000 protesters gathered on October Square.
Suspiciously Large Margin
Lukashenka has kept a firm grip on the country's security forces and media since assuming control 12 years ago. Belarus has enjoyed relative stability under his reign, and few expected to see him lose.
But the gaping margin between him and his closest competitor -- opposition candidate Alyaksandr Milinkevich, who trailed him by nearly 77 percentage points -- provoked many pro-democracy supporters to claim election fraud.
Demonstrators gathered in October Square called for new elections to be called in July. Many carried the white-and-red Belarusian national flags banned by Lukashenka in favor of a Soviet model. Supporters brought food and hot drinks, and some drivers blew their horns as they drove by in a sign of support.
The crowd is a tiny fraction of the 100,000 people that occupied Kyiv's Independence Square during the Orange Revolution in 2004. But opposition candidate Milinkevich told Reuters television this morning that the determination of the demonstrators is a testament to major changes under way in Belarus.
Alyaksandr Milinkevich (file photo)
"There's a feeling of great joy and happiness as a new nation is being born -- a Belarusian [nation]," Milinkevich said. "We often used to hear that Belarusians lack will and character and that they tolerate dictatorship, and I think during the last six months, preparing for the elections, people have managed to achieve something that we could not do over the course of many years in the past. Belarusians are getting rid of their fear and they are revealing that they have dignity. The youths who are here will live in a new Belarus."