A teacher is the greatest challenge yet to the reign of Alexander Lukashenko, who is running for a sixth term as president of Belarus. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has had a staggering and unprecedented rise.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya does not describe herself as a politician. Indeed, she says she just wants her family back and to be able to cook for them. Yet, for now, she is running for election, and observers consider the 37-year-old stay-at-home parent, a teacher and interpreter by profession, perhaps the greatest challenge yet to the reign of President Alexander Lukashenko, who is seeking a sixth term on Sunday.
Tikhanovskaya ended up in this position almost by chance. It was initially her husband, the 41-year-old video blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, who wanted to challenge the president. However, he was arrested before the election campaign even kicked off and charged with taking part in an unauthorized demonstration at the beginning of the year. When Tikhanovsky was formally disqualified, Tikhanovskaya decided to run instead. And, surprisingly, she was able to collect the 100,000 required signatures and made the ballot.
Tikhanovskaya, who is from a small southwestern town, studied foreign languages before going on to work as a translator in Gomel, the second-biggest city in Belarus. It’s the first time that such an outsider has taken part in the authoritarian country’s electoral process. Her election campaign team was boosted by support from two political heavyweights: the former banker Viktor Babariko and the former diplomat Valery Tsepkalo, who were also barred from running.
Tens of thousands of people have turned up to Tikhanovskaya’s rallies — breaking records in a country where people have long been discouraged from taking part in politics and tend to be either dispassionate or scared. It is clear that Tikhanovskaya is an unusual candidate with an unusual approach to the task at hand. The campaign is a sign that Belarus is changing.
Source: DW
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