The presidential candidate of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya issued an appeal to the workers of the country, in which she urged them to continue strikes. The appeal was published on August 20 on the Country for Life YouTube channel.
“The strikes have squeezed the dictatorship into a corner. They wounded her in the very heart, so now they are trying to divide and quarrel you by all means. After all, if we are all together, this regime will not have a single chance. Strikes are absolutely legal and powerful weapons against the regime. They know it. And so you are intimidated. Leave fear to the dictatorship. Remember, you are not alone. All Belarus is with you, ”she said.
Tikhanovskaya thanked the workers of the factories for the “incredible unity” and “steel endurance”, which they demonstrated, despite the pressure. She stressed that the future of the country and “our children” depends on the determination of the people, so strikes need to be continued and expanded.
“Our goals are simple: end the violence, release political prisoners, hold transparent, free and fair elections,” added Tihanovskaya.
On the same day, Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko said that performances at state-owned enterprises of the republic are staged, and actors-provocateurs take part in them.
On August 19, the Ministry of Labor of Belarus called on the labor collectives of the country not to stop the work of enterprises.
On Wednesday, it became known that riot police are dispersing those gathered at the Minsk Tractor Plant (MTZ). In the crowd were factory workers who on August 18 wrote applications for vacation at their own expense, but on Wednesday they could not get to the territory of the enterprise due to blocked passes.
In addition, strikes continue at the JSC “Belaruskali”, ore mining is not carried out. The first calls for a strike at the enterprise were made on 17 August. The next day, strike committees were formed at all mining administrations and ore mining ceased.
On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus, in which the incumbent head of state Alexander Lukashenko won – he gained 80.01% of the vote, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was supported by 10.01% of voters. Tikhanovskaya’s headquarters did not recognize the results of the vote. People who disagreed with the results of the vote took to the streets to protest. Employees of the five largest factories in Minsk went on strike.