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Crisis in Belarus

Belarusian opposition plans to complete formation of coordination council on Tuesday

The council will include 70 people, of whom over 30 have already been selected, according to ex-presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s spokesperson

© Natalia Fedosenko/TASS

MINSK, August 18. /TASS/. The unified Belarusian opposition plans to complete the formation of a 70-member coordination council on Tuesday, former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s spokesperson Olga Kovalkova told TASS.

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Tikhanovskaya initiates creation of coordination council to transfer power in Belarus

"We intend to complete the formation process today, the council will consist of 70 people. We have received hundreds of applications and already announced some names. There will also be other influential people in the council," she said.

Kovalkova declined to comment on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s statement that he had suggested that ballots be recounted. According to her, the opposition plans to build dialogue with the country’s authorities to make sure that the will of the majority of the people is respected. "We need dialogue and we want to build it through the Coordination Council," she noted.

Kovalkova said on Monday that over 30 people had been included in the council, namely winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Svetlana Alexievich, film director Yuri Khashchevatsky and Maria Kolesnikova, the campaign coordinator for Viktor Babariko who had been denied registration as a presidential candidate.

Belarus held a presidential election on August 9. According to the Central Election Commission, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko received 80.1% of the vote while his main rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya garnered 10.12%. She refused to recognize the election’s results and left Belarus. According to recent reports, Tikhanovskaya is currently in Lithuania. On August 14, she announced plans to set up a coordination council to ensure transfer of power.

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