Nationwide strike underway, says Thikanovskaya
MINSK: Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said supporters launched Monday a nationwide strike after her deadline expired for strongman Alexander Lukashenko to step down.
“Today the People’s Strike is beginning,” Tikhanovskaya said on her Telegram channel.
“Employees of state factories and enterprises, transport workers and miners, teachers and students have gone on strike since this morning.”
All major stores and pharmacies were open in the capital Minsk on Monday but some small business were shuttered, an AFP reporter said.
Several thousand pensioners and students took to the streets of Minsk to back the workers.
“We want to live in a free democratic country, we should defend those who have been beaten up,” student Ivan Prokhorov told AFP at the protest.
Tikhanovskaya had given Lukashenko until Sunday to quit, halt violence against protesters and release political prisoners, warning he would otherwise face a general strike from Monday.
The 66-year-old Lukashenko, accused by the opposition of stealing August polls, ignored the ultimatum and police cracked down on the latest of a series of opposition protests on Sunday.
Tikhanovskaya praised the “incredible level of solidarity” among Belarusians and pledged the strikes would continue.
Speaking on YouTube, she said that over US$7 million had been raised in support of the strikers.
The 38-year-old opposition figure, who claims to have won the August 9 election and is now based in EU member Lithuania, did not provide any figures on the number of people participating. — AFP