The Belarusian president has called opposition leaders “cowards” after they urged people to go mushrooming rather than vote in an election set to reinforce the hardline leader’s grip on the former Soviet country.
“They are cowards who have nothing to say to the people,” said Alexander Lukashenko – a populist who has run the country of 9.5 million with an iron fist since 1994 – said after voting in Minsk.
The two main opposition parties see yesterday’s election as a sham exercise to produce a 110-seat chamber that largely rubber-stamps Mr Lukashenko’s directives.
The United Civic Party and the Belarusian People’s Front said anyone voting would be casting a ballot for his leadership as a whole and would be validating the detention of political prisoners and election fraud. – (Reuters)