Belarusian opposition leader, ex-presidential candidate of Belarus Svetlana TikhanovskayaMINSK, Aug 9The leader of the Belarusian opposition, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who left for Lithuania, a candidate for the presidential election in Belarus in 2020, said that a «united transitional cabinet» was being created from among the representatives of the opposition, which would «defend the sovereignty» of Belarus and «ensure the transit of power from dictatorship to democracy» «I have decided to create a joint transitional cabinet — a collective executive body,» Tikhanovskaya's press service quoted the politician as saying on Tuesday. It is noted that this structure will «protect the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus, represent the national interests of Belarus.» Also, its goals are «restoration of constitutional law and order», the implementation of measures «to suppress the illegal retention of power, ensure the transit of power from dictatorship to democracy, create conditions for holding fair and free elections.» According to the press service, the opposition cabinet will also «develop and implement decisions necessary to achieve democratic changes in Belarus.» It is emphasized that «as a result of this, all political prisoners should be released.»Lukashenka announced the 15 thousand dollars owed by TikhanovskayaAccording to Tikhanovskaya, cited in the press service, all candidates must be approved by the representative body. It is planned that this will be the opposition coordinating council created earlier on the initiative of Tikhanovskaya. However, four cabinet members have already been appointed for a period of 6 months, in the future they will also have to be coordinated by the coordinating council. Pavel Latushko became the representative of the cabinet for the transit of power, Valery Kovalevsky for foreign affairs, Oleksandr Azarov for the restoration of law and order, and Valeriy Sakhashchik for defense and national security. Tikhanovskaya said that in the event of her absence, Latushko and Kovalevsky would be her deputies. Representatives for social policy, economics and finance, and national revival should also appear in the cabinet. Tikhanovskaya said that «documents on the goals, regulations and structure of the united transitional cabinet and its next steps will appear in the very near future.» She also said that by October she would tell «how the three billion (euro) assistance plan from the EU can be implemented», and by November the concept of economic and legal reforms would be presented. She also announced the participation of cabinet representatives in the UN General Assembly and the opening of representative offices in Estonia, Prague, and Brussels. After the presidential elections held in Belarus on August 9, 2020, in which Alexander Lukashenko won for the sixth time, mass opposition protests took place in the country. The KGB of Belarus in February 2021 stated that manifestations of protests had practically disappeared. In Belarus, criminal cases have been opened against a number of opposition leaders, including calls for the seizure of power, the creation of an extremist formation, a conspiracy to seize state power in an unconstitutional way, and an attempted terrorist act. A number of representatives of the Belarusian opposition went abroad, in particular, to Poland, Lithuania, from where they carry out their activities. The Prosecutor General of Belarus Andrey Shved previously stated that the criminal prosecution of opposition leaders, in particular, Tikhanovskaya and Latushko, who left after the presidential elections in the EU countries, will continue, despite the refusal to extradite them to Minsk.
Lukashenko said that the oppositionists who left abroad want to return
