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Nyaklyayew, Sannikaw hold rally with their supporters

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Up to 2,000 people attended a campaign rally that was held in the square in front of Minsk’s main railroad station on Monday evening, featuring opposition presidential candidates Uladzimir Nyaklyayew and Andrey Sannikaw.

Mr. Nyaklyayew, leader of the “Tell the Truth!” campaign, called the rally an alternative to Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s two-day Fourth All-Belarusian People’s Assembly, which began in Minsk earlier in the day.

He read out the speech that he had planned to deliver at the Assembly but failed because he had been barred from attending it.

He called on all those presence to come to Minsk’s central Kastrychnitskaya Square on the evening of December 19 for a post-election rally and ignore provocations. “Listen to those who have invited you to go there! Listen to Uladzimir Nyaklyayew!” he said.

He stressed that it would be a peaceful rally but warned that authorities might attempt to make provocations. “My people will do everything so that you will be safe,” he said, adding that there would be a well-considered plan of action.

According to him, participants will demand that Lidziya Yarmoshyna would give explanations for discovered instances of election fraud, that opposition candidates be given the opportunity to appear live on TV, and that Mr. Lukashenka go out to meet with the demonstrators and “face the music.”

During the rally, Messrs. Nyaklyayew and Sannikaw signed a joint appeal demanding live television time.

“Our live airtime is your voices and eyes,” Mr. Sannikaw told the crowd. He said he was convinced that change would come to the country before the end of the year.
He called on Belarusians to once again “change the bald tires” on December 19. //BelaPAN