The incumbent
president reiterated that the change of power in the country might take place
not under the pressure of street protests, but in accordance with the law.
MINSK, September 10.
/TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that he has no intention
of ceding power and will not let it 'lie in the mud'.
"I would like to
tell you in a manly way, so as not to leave a word unspoken. I’m often
reproached: "He will not cede power." This is correct. That’s not
what the people elected me for. <...> Power is given not to be abandoned
or given away. In the mid-1990s it lay in the mud. Some wiped their feet on it.
And on you, those in the law enforcement. Many of you remember this period. I
do not want Belarus to get back to those days. Nobody will dare throw mud at
the authorities, contrary to what they demand," the BelTA new agency quotes
Lukashenko as saying at a ceremony where he introduced the country’s new
prosecutor general, Andrei Shved, to his subordinates.
He reiterated that
the change of power in the country might take place not under the pressure of
street protests, but in accordance with the law.
"If you think
that I’m holding onto power, with my hands blue with strain, for my own sake,
you will strongly disappoint me. <...> Sooner or later others will take
this power, but they will do so in accordance with the law, and not under
pressure from street demonstrations," Lukashenko said.
In Belarus’ August 9
presidential election Lukashenko emerged the winner with 80.1% of the vote. The
runner-up, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who received 10.12%, did not recognize the
election returns. Right after the election returns were made public several
Belarusian cities saw mass protests. During the first days there were clashes
with police. The opposition’s Coordination Council has been calling for further
protests. The authorities say illegal demonstrations must be brought to an end.
Source: ITAR-TASS
10-09-2020
