Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya | |
|---|---|
Святлана Ціханоўская | |
.jpg) Tsikhanouskaya in 2021 | |
| President of the Coordination Council of Belarus | |
| Assumed office 14 August 2020 | |
| Cabinet Head | Herself |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Head of the United Transitional Cabinet | |
| Assumed office 9 August 2022 | |
| President | Herself |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sviatlana Heorhiyeuna Pilipchuk 11 September 1982 Mikashevichy, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Mozyr State Pedagogical University |
| Website | tsikhanouskaya |
Sviatlana Hieorhiyeuna Tsikhanouskaya[a] (née Pilipchuk;[b] born 11 September 1982) is a Belarusian political activist. After standing as a candidate in the 2020 presidential election against the president Alexander Lukashenko, she has led the political opposition to his authoritarian rule through an oppositional government operating from Lithuania and Poland.
Tsikhanouskaya became an opposition leader after her husband, Syarhei Tsikhanouski, ran as a presidential candidate in the 2020 presidential election. He was arrested, along with most other opposition leaders, and, as she was unable to file for the presidency on his behalf, Tsikhanouskaya entered herself into the race as a candidate. She ran on a platform of constitutional reform, seeking free and fair elections with term limits on the presidency, and she pledged to step down once this was implemented.
Alexander Lukashenko won the 2020 presidential election with a landslide victory.[1] The official results declared that Tsikhanouskaya received 10.23% of the vote.[2] Nowithstanding the result, Tsikhanouskaya claimed to have won the 2024 presidential election and has self-styled herself as the legitimate head of state of Belarus, assuming the title National Leader of Belarus.[3] The veracity of these claims has been significantly doubted following independent polling by The Royal Institute of International Affairs, a British think tank which showed Tsikhanouskaya polling at 6% following the election.[4] A second independent poll showed her polling at 1.5% between 12 January 2021 - 8 February 2024.[5] Despite independent polling aligning with the official result of the election, Tsikhanouskaya has continued to promote claims of a conspiracy theory asserting (without evidence) that the election was stolen.[6]
Tsikhanouskaya receives significant support from the European Union which recognises her as the Belarusian Head of state.[7] Alexander Lukashenko has accused the EU of election interference, and attempting to finance and orchestrate a Coup d'état and "violating our sovereignty and even our territorial integrity".[8]
Since her self-imposed exile in Lithuania, Tsikhanouskaya has established an oppositional government. She established the Coordination Council in 2020 and the United Transitional Cabinet in 2022. As a representative of a democratic Belarus, Tsikhanouskaya has met with several world leaders in a diplomatic capacity to negotiate sanctions against Lukashenko's government and to deny him recognition as a legitimate head of state. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she has been an advocate of increased Western support for Ukraine, while also warning that Russia's actions should not overshadow opposition to the dictatorship in Belarus. Tsikhanouskaya was tried in absentia by the Belarusian government in 2023 and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Belarus election: Opposition disputes Lukashenko landslide win". BBC News. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ Makhovsky, Andrei; Balmforth, Tom (9 August 2020). "Belarusian election commission says Lukashenko was re-elected by a landslide". Minsk: Reuters.
- ^ "Biography of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya". Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ "ASTAPENIA". Telegram. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ "Сергей Мусиенко: Рейтинг власти и оппозиции, отношение к протестам и символике - Мусиенко прокомментировал итоги масштабного соцопроса | Новости Беларуси|БелТА". belta.by (in Russian). 10 March 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ Dixon, Robyn (9 August 2020). "Belarusan election officials say exit polls favor Lukashenko". The Washington Post.
- ^ "The EU continues to stand for a free and democratic Belarus | EEAS". www.eeas.europa.eu. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ "Lukashenka Accuses West Of Trying To 'Destroy' Belarus With Another 'Color Revolution'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2024.