MOSCOW—Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko was sworn in for a sixth term in a surprise inauguration ceremony, catching his opponents off guard and depriving them of an opportunity to stage another mass protest against the handling of last month’s election.
Several hundred people were invited to Wednesday’s ceremony in the capital, Minsk, including senior officials, members of parliament, scientists and sports and cultural figures, state media reported. The event came six weeks after the Aug. 9 vote, in which the Belarusian leader, in office for 26 years, claimed a landslide victory, triggering mass protests by opponents who believe the election was neither free nor fair.
Political analysts said the low-key inauguration suggested Mr. Lukashenko was anxious to avoid another confrontation with the growing protest movement, which has generated crowds of over 100,000.
“This is rather significant because this is the first time when the ceremony wasn’t just not announced, but wasn’t broadcast on air, on state TV, and it was basically conducted as some secret intelligence operation,” said Artyom Shraibman, founder of Minsk-based political consulting firm Sense Analytics. “It tells us that they were afraid to trigger protests with this inauguration. The inauguration would have been conducted in the presence of protesters, near the presidential palace, or there would have to be a brutal crackdown to repel the protesters.”
The opposition swiftly condemned the inauguration, describing it as an attempt to hoodwink the nation. The opposition Coordination Council, formed to help transfer power to a new government, called on Belarusians to begin an indefinite program of civil disobedience. The strike committee at Belaruskali, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and exporters of potash fertilizers, called for a national strike. Bloggers called on people to take to the streets in protest.