"You won't see it!" Lukashenko refused to hold new elections

"You will never see me doing something under pressure", - the Belarusian leader emphasized. "There will be no (elections). Because there will be neither MZKT, nor MAZ, nor BELAZ, we will destroy everything in six months", - Lukashenko said (quoted by Interfax).

Lukashenko said he was ready to share his powers, "but not under pressure and not across the street". He recalled that work had begun on introducing amendments to the constitution of the republic.

TUT.BY cites the following dialogue between Lukashenko and workers.

- Are you talking about unfair elections and want to hold fair?

- Yes!

- I am answering this question. We held elections. Until you kill me, there will be no other choice.

On August 16, Lukashenko announced that Belarus "will perish as a state" in the event of new elections. At a rally in support of him, 30 thousand people gathered, at a rally of his opponents, according to various estimates, from 250 to 500 thousand citizens.

The main political opponent of the President, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, announced the need for new elections earlier. In a video message, she noted: "I am ready to take responsibility and act during this period as a national leader so that the country calms down, enters a normal rhythm, so that we release all political prisoners and prepare the legislative framework and conditions as soon as possible. to organize new presidential elections - real, fair and transparent".

On Monday, it became known about new strikes at Belarusian factories, employees of state channels also warned about the impending strike.

On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus. The CEC announced that incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won them with a score of 80.08%, and his main rival from the opposition Svetlana Tikhanovskaya - 10.09%. The public did not recognize these results. Tihanovskaya was forced to leave for Lithuania, but did not stop participating in the political life of the republic.

Large-scale protests do not stop in Belarus, more than 7 thousand people were detained. One person was killed. Hundreds of photo and video evidence of detainees being abused have been published.

On August 17, the British Foreign Office announced that it did not recognize the results of the presidential elections in Belarus.

“The world is watching with horror the violence that is now being used by the Belarusian authorities to suppress the peaceful protests that followed the falsification of the voting results. Great Britain does not recognize the results of this vote”, - Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said.

Earlier, the election results were not recognized by Lithuania. Washington has threatened Minsk with sanctions. The UN demanded to investigate the torture of Belarusian citizens.