The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, is often been referred to as Europe's last dictator. But could this all be about to change? Earlier this month, Belarus held a presidential election which it was announced that Lukashenko, who has ruled the nation undemocratically since 1994, had once again won with a huge majority. From then until now, Belarusians have taken to the streets in their masses through protests, rallies and worker strikes, on an unprecedented scale, calling for Lukashenko's resignation.
In today's episode, I'm joined by Nelly Bekus, Associate Lecturer at the University of Exeter, Ihar Barysau, the Chair of the Belarus Social Democratic Party (Hramada), and Ido Vock, International Correspondent at the New Statesman, to get more of an insight into the situation.
Speakers:
Nelly Bekus - Associate Lecturer, University of Exeter,
Ihar Barysau - Chair, Belarus Social Democratic Party (Hramada)
Ido Vock - International Correspondent, New Statesman https://twitter.com/idvck
Hosted by
Louie Marlow - Content Producer, Young Fabians https://twitter.com/louiemarlow
Resources:
Belarus Social Democratic Party - http://bsdp.org/
'The Crackdown in Belarus', Nelly Bekus - https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/08/the-crackdown-in-belarus
'Timeline of election turmoil in Belarus', RTE - https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2020/0811/1158602-belarus/
'The bully of Belarus: will Russia intervene to save Alexander Lukashenko?', Ido Vock - https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2020/08/bully-belarus-will-russia-intervene-save-alexander-lukashenko
'How mass post-election protests threaten Belarus’s regime', Ido Vock - https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2020/08/how-mass-post-election-protests-threaten-belaruss-regime
This event was recorded on Friday 21st August.
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