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Belarusian Opposition Activists Demand New Elections


Belarus Activists Demand Fair Elections, Lukashenka's Resignation
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WATCH: Belarus Activists Demand Fair Elections, Lukashenka's Resignation

Dozens of Belarusian opposition activists have held an unauthorized rally in the center of the capital, Minsk, to protest against what they call unfair parliamentary elections.

The participants at the September 12 demonstration held banners calling for a new vote.

"There were no elections," former presidential candidate Vladimir Neklyayev said. "It is another political farce."

Police did not interrupt the protest.

Election officials say two opposition figures won seats in the September 11 elections -- the first opposition parliamentarians to win seats in 20 years.

The chief of the Organization for Security and Cooperation's short-term observer mission in the country, Kent Harstedt, told RFE/RL that the elections were "in no way free and fair."

Parliament has been dominated by allies of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Belarus has not held a vote that was assessed free or democratic since the early 1990s.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

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