Energy Company) shout during a rally in Minsk, on August 17, 2020,
after incumbent president rejected calls to step down in a defiant
speech. Sergei GAPON / AFP
Protesters gathered outside a factory and the
headquarters of state television in Minsk on Monday following a
call from Belarus’s opposition for a general strike over a
disputed election.
AFP journalists saw protesters waving the opposition’s
red-and-white flag at the television channel and the Minsk Wheel
Tractor Plant (MZKT), where President Alexander Lukashenko was
visiting.
Workers at the Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ) also told AFP that
several thousand staff had walked off the job.
Footage posted by the tut.by news website showed crowds of
workers from other plants marching to the MZKT plant to join the
protest.
READ ALSO: Tens Of Thousands Rally In Belarus
As Lukashenko Vows To Stay On
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Protesters at the plant chanted “Leave!” and “We will not
forget, we will not forgive.”
Senior opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova joined the crowd and
urged them to head next to the state television offices.
“We are going to (state) television to support our colleagues in
the resistance,” she said.
Lukashenko met with workers at the plant and downplayed the
protests, saying that in general factories were working.
“If anyone does not want to work and wants to walk out… please
the doors are open,” state news agency Belta quoted him as
saying.
He again rejected calls to step down, saying: “You will never
expect me to do something under pressure.”
AFP