ArmInfo. The protest actions started after Alexander Lukashenko was declared president, will continue, the whole question is in their scale and to what extent people are ready for a prolonged protest. But most of them are not ready to go to the end and sacrifice themselves.
At the same time, under the conditions of an authoritarian regime, the very fact that Belarusians take to the streets is already a serious civil challenge. The Belarusian political scientist Valery Karbalevich expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
To note, according to the latest data from the Central Election Commission of Belarus, following the presidential elections, Lukashenko won with 80.23% of the vote, and his main rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya with about 10%. Residents of Minsk and other cities have taken to the streets for several days in a row to express disagreement with the results of the presidential elections. The demonstrators consider the election results to be rigged. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has already congratulated President Lukashenko on his next re-election.
Against this background, within the government, according to the political scientist, there is no crisis, but there is loyalty to its old leader. There are also no signs that the power apparatus may refuse to obey Lukashenko, which could lead to the loss of control over the situation. In this light, the political scientist does not see the possibility of a revolution in Belarus today.
The main opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, according to Karbalevich, is not ready for the role of a real leader of the opposition and the country and has nominated herself as a technical candidate in order to provide moral support to her husband. Tikhanovskaya came to the fore solely as a result of the arrest of two of Lukashenko's main rivals, one of whom is her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky. Thus, according to the political analyst, the protest movement has no leader - the most active oppositionists are neutralized.
"Lukashenko's positions have weakened recently. But not so much that he lost control over the state apparatus and, accordingly, the country. At the same time, I am convinced that even in the event of a large- scale protest movement, he will use force. However, it is premature to talk about large-scale mass protests today, '' Karbalevich summed up.