MINSK, August 30. /TASS/. Belarusian presidential aide Nikolai Latyshenok came out to the demonstrators who gathered near President Alexander Lukashenko’s residence in Minsk on Sunday, a TASS correspondent reported from the site.
By that moment, most of the protesters had left the site because of heavy rain, with only several hundreds being still there.
Latyshenok said he was confident the August 9 presidential polls in the country had been fair. "We have repeatedly said we are ready to settle the situation peacefully. We are working on a new constitution," he said.
The presidential aide faulted the demonstrators for indulging in illegal actions during the protest. People, in turn, said clashes with the police during the first days of protests had been instigated by provokers who rushed to barricade and law enforcers should have stopped them rather then beat up innocent people.
On August 9, Belarus held its sixth presidential election since declaring independence in 1991. According to the final results of Sunday’s voting, the incumbent president, Alexander Lukashenko, won 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, scored 10.12% of votes but refused to recognize the voting outcome. She soon left Belarus for Lithuania
Mass protests and clashes with police took place in Minsk and other Belarusian cities after exit poll results were made public. As a result, more than 6,000 people were detained, dozens of law enforcers and demonstrators were injured during the first days of protests. Later, the authorities confirmed the death of four people. However, according to the investigators, only one of them was killed during the protests. The Opposition however claims that at least six people were killed and dozens are missing.
Some Belarusian enterprises tried to organize strikes demanding elections be recognized as invalid. The opposition set up a coordination council for peaceful transfer of power. Later, Lukashenko’s supporters also began to organize rallies in Minsk and other Belarusian cities.