{"id":11498,"date":"2022-11-17T11:03:57","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T08:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/cichanouskaja-looking-to-reassert-herself-as-president-elect\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"cichanouskaja-looking-to-reassert-herself-as-president-elect","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11498\/","title":{"rendered":"Cichano\u016dskaja looking to reassert herself as president-elect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <span>By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN <\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n\t<span> <\/span><span><b>Two years after Belarus\u2019 presidential election, the chief opposition rival declared herself president-elect. The statement\u2019s practical significance should not be overestimated.<\/b><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Sviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja, in an op-ed run by <span>Politico<\/span> on November 14, declared herself president-elect, urging the West to stop pretending Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka is president. It was not actually the first time she introduced herself as president-elect. She did so in a February 2021 interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon.\n<\/p>\n<h2>Opposition camp experiencing a crisis<\/h2>\n<p>\n\t The op-ed was published a few months after Cichano\u016dskaja and her office had come under fire from several opposition politicians for allegedly monopolizing pro-democracy forces, and lacking transparency and a strategy.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The office responded by establishing a cabinet in August in an attempt to engage critics in its activities.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t However, the cabinet \u201cremains in the shadow of the Cichano\u016dskaja office,\u201d Pavie\u0142 Usa\u016d, a Belarusian political analyst told <span>The Viewer<\/span>, noting that the idea to establish a strong coalition has not been put into practice.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The opposition camp has been beset by backbiting and power struggle. It has been criticized for a poor vetting process after the resignation of Tacciana Zareckaja weeks after her appointment as chief financial officer. Some partners went public to express discontent with the terms and conditions of non-disclosure agreements proposed by the office.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t In a bid to silence internal critics, Cichano\u016dskaja has emphasized her status as opposition leader.\n<\/p>\n<h2>Opponents hoping for miracle<\/h2>\n<p>\n\t The central election commission\u2019s announcement in 2020 that Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka won the presidential election with 80 percent of the vote angered opposition supporters and triggered mass protests against election fraud.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Although the commission claimed that Cichano\u016dskaja received just 10 percent of the vote, the Holas think tank analyzed voting records and other evidence and concluded that the opposition candidate gained at least 56 percent. Independent polls suggest that she might have scored a landslide victory.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t However, two years after the election, opponents seem to be losing confidence in the former presidential candidate\u2019s team and its ability to defeat \u0141uka\u0161enka. Observers note that Cichano\u016dskaja might fade because her office has little influence on developments in Belarus.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The cabinet formation three months ago has not made a big difference despite the opposition camp\u2019s cautious attempts to explore more radical options against the entrenched Belarusian regime.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Problems endured by the team are likely to encourage critics to step up their attacks.\n<\/p>\n<h2>Other leaders may come to fore<\/h2>\n<p>\n\t The president-elect declaration is an attempt to raise the stakes and gain recognition at a higher international level, some analysts said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t It could play a crucial role if \u0141uka\u0161enka sent Belarusian troops to fight in Ukraine and became an even more toxic figure for the West to deal with, they added.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t However, it looks highly unlikely that the Belarusian ruler might gamble on Russia now that Ukrainian troops have taken Kherson. He is doing his best to avoid deeper involvement in the Russian campaign.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Western governments will not be in a rush to recognize Cichano\u016dskaja as president-elect because her office has little influence, if any, on political developments in Belarus.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Belarusian government\u2019s campaign of terror is helping \u0141uka\u0161enka to hold on to power. It is difficult to say how long he can stay. His tenure hinges on Ukraine\u2019s success or failure.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Exiled opposition politicians cannot generate a miraculous plan to topple the dictator. They can only try to remain in the spotlight for better times, said Arciom \u0160rajbman, a Belarusian political analyst, in a recent interview with <span>The Viewer<\/span>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The current opposition entities may be eventually pushed to the margins of politics, and new leaders may emerge as soon as an opportunity for change arrives.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t &nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN Two years after Belarus\u2019 presidential election, the chief opposition rival declared herself president-elect. The statement\u2019s practical significance should not be overestimated. Sviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja, in an op-ed run by Politico on November 14, declared herself president-elect, urging the West to stop pretending Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka is president. It was not actually the first [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-11498","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cichano\u016dskaja looking to reassert herself as president-elect | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN Two years after Belarus\u2019 presidential election, the chief opposition rival declared herself president-elect. 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