OREANDA-NEWS. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a main rival of the incumbent head of state Alexander Lukashenko at the last presidential election, said to the Japanese television channel NHK that political protest actions in Belarus will not stop in the near future. According to the politician, the Belarusian people are the driving force of the daily protests, and citizens can have a strong influence on Lukashenko.

In addition, she commented on the statement of the Belarusian leader about possible new presidential election after the amendment to the country’s Constitution. Tsikhanouskaya considers that a rerun of a vote should take place before the amendments are adopted.

Mass protest actions in Belarus began on August 9 after the presidential election, in which Lukashenko, according to official data, won more than 80 % of votes, and the single opposition candidate Tsikhanouskaya received just about 10 %.

Official Minsk believes that the protests are controlled from abroad, and their goal is a coup. On September 2, Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei claimed that the authorities had managed to prevent a colour revolution in the republic.