Women in Politics

Portrait for @LINO_MSR
by @LINO_MSR
2020-07-26T22:00:02+00:00
Regional News • Europe
Three women alliance in Belarus attempts to end Lukashenko's presidency of 26 years
Crowd at a Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya campaign rally in Belarus in July 2020. Three women are holding paintings of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Veronika Tsepkalo, and Maria Kolesnikova.
Crowd at a Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya campaign rally in Belarus in July 2020. Three women are holding paintings of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Veronika Tsepkalo, and Maria Kolesnikova. Credit: Uladz Hrydzin for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

With most potential opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko locked up as political prisoners and only one approved opposition candidate, three women in Belarus attempt to bring political change to the Eastern European country.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a foreign language teacher, began her campaign in Minsk, supported by Maria Kolesnikova, and by Veronika Zepkalo. Kolesnikova was the campaign chief of former candidate Viktor Babariko, while Zepkalo is the wife of Valery Tsepkalo, also a former presidential candidate.