A High-Stakes Standoff in Belarus

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2020

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Aleksandr Lukashenko came to office in Belarus in the 1990s on a nostalgic message, promising to undo moves toward a market economy and end the hardship the country had endured after gaining independence from the Soviet Union. As president, he acquired dictatorial powers, removing term limits, cracking down on opposition and stifling the press. In recent years, however, economic stagnation has bred growing discontent. And when Mr. Lukashenko claimed an implausible landslide victory in a presidential election last month, he found himself facing mass protests that have only grown as he has attempted to crush them. Today, we chart Mr. Lukashenko’s rise to power and examine his fight to hold on to it. Guest: Ivan Nechepurenko, a reporter with the Moscow bureau of The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily Background reading: The protests in Belarus present the greatest challenge yet to Mr. Lukashenko’s hold on power. Formerly apolitical people have taken to the streets against him.Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the opposition candidate who has galvanized the movement against Mr. Lukashenko, is a newcomer to politics who took up the role when more established figures were jailed or exiled.

Transcript

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0:25.6	From the New York Times, I'm Michael Bobaro.
0:32.6	This is The Daily.
0:37.6	For weeks, tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets of Belarus to demand
0:48.6	the resignation of their president, Alexandra Lukashenko.
0:55.6	Today, my colleague, Ivan Nietzsche-Parenko, on how Europe's last dictator came to power
1:03.8	and his fight to hold onto it.
1:13.6	It's Wednesday, September 2nd.
1:20.6	Ivan, I know you're based in Russia, in Moscow.
1:24.6	So where are you now?
1:27.6	I'm currently in Belarus.
1:28.6	It's a country of about 9.5 million sandwiched between Russia and the European Union.
1:35.3	I'm here to cover the contested re-election of the incumbent president, Alexandra Lukashenko.
1:42.1	In Belarus, a president, Alexandra Lukashenko, has won the presidential vote with 79.9% according
1:48.7	to the latest exit poll.
1:51.8	His re-election has inspired people to protest against him because they felt that the result
	...

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