Pressured by the ongoing mass protests in Belarus, controversial President Alexandr Lukashenko, after 26 years in power, has promised the population the first time reforms.
The demand to do something about the authoritarian system in the former Soviet Republic is getting louder.
“Everyone is calling for change, change. That is why we are going to discuss that in detail,” said Lukashenko on Monday.
In concrete terms, it concerns an amendment to the constitution that must be widely supported in society. State media in Minsk headlined in their quick coverage: “Lukashenko in favour of reforms.”
The situation in Minsk remained tense at the beginning of the week after tens of thousands of people demanded the resignation of the 66-year-old ruler on Sunday.
Opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova warned that Lukashenko could not be trusted.
A quarter of a century of many unfulfilled promises has conclusively proven this. “Lukashenko is lying and manipulating as he has for 26 years,” she told the German news agency DPA.