The Presidential Housewife: Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s Mission To End Dictatorship in Belarus

Written by Nina Logvin

In a time of great economic and social unrest in the Republic of Belarus, an unlikely figure has entered the political stage to advocate against the mass arrests, internet censorship and rigged elections implemented by “Europe’s Last Dictator,” President Alexander Lukashenko. The story of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya continues to unfold; a former English teacher who alongside her daily life at home caring for her two children, created a united front against Mr. Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule to demand legitimacy and accountability in the Belarusian government.

Gaining power in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko has served as Belarus’ first and only president for a total of 26 years and counting. Throughout the years, his dictatorial behaviour has raised great concerns among the majority of Belarusian citizens. Following yet another year of rigged election results, Belarusian exit polls announced Mr. Lukashenko’s reelection on August 9th, granting him a sixth term as president with an overwhelming 80% of the popular vote.¹ Within a few hours, thousands took to the streets to demonstrate the mass discontent despite the widespread brutality by the Belarusian police force, OMON, as well as the continuous Coronavirus pandemic. By August 16th, over 200,000 citizens chanted and marched down the Minsk streets, ranking as Belarus’s largest protest in history.² The national protests were similarly supported by international actors such as the European Union and the United States, refusing to recognize the results as legitimate and eyeing to place sanctions on the Belarusian officials.³

Among the thousands of citizens arrested in late May was Sergei Tikhanovsky, a political blogger and later presidential candidate speaking out against the President’s authoritative powers. It is during this time that his wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, decided to take his place in the campaign, advocating for free and fair elections. Although remaining an independent candidate on the electoral ballots, she formed a political trio alongside activists Maria Kolesnikova and Veronika Tsepkalo to travel across Belarus and raise awareness regarding the President’s abuse of power. Despite Mr. Lukashenko’s dismissal of the female candidates, arguing that “a woman cannot bear the role of a president,” ⁴ alternate polls and overall protestor numbers reveal that Svetlana remains his greatest opponent.

In response to the President’s public and blatant sexism, Mrs. Tikhanovskaya expressed: “Our women understood that they are leaders as well, and they don’t have to stay in their kitchens and can go and fight for their rights beside their men — and even in front of their men.” ⁵

In the post-Soviet state with many of the same gender roles intact from the 1990s, the female political trio symbolized not only democratic change, but also a dynamic shift in gender norms. On August 13th, women in Belarus organized a peaceful protest forming human chains to demand an end to police brutality. Thousands of women marched wearing white and carrying flowers, encouraging OMON officers to accept their bouquets as a symbol of solidarity.⁶

Alongside the demand for a change of the political regime, the 2020 presidential election was also an opportunity for women to take the stage in Belarus. Popular support for Tikhanovskaya, Kolesnikova and Tsepkalo continues to inspire protestors to challenge the human rights violations committed by the authoritarian regime and the OMON, as well as the social barriers that prevent women from flourishing in the political and professional spheres. Ultimately, despite Lukashenko’s continuous dictatorial power, the popular uproar reveals the imminence of not only a political and economic, but a monumental sociocultural shift that would transform the gender dynamics in modern day Belarus.

¹ Isabelle Khurshudyan, “Belarusan President Lukashenko Wins Sixth Term In Widely Disputed Election,” The Washington Post, August 10, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/violent-crackdown-on-belarus-protests-follows-disputed-results-showing-lukashenko-reelected/2020/08/10/cc56fb12-d9c2-11ea-a788-2ce86ce81129_story.html ² Shaun Walker, “Tens of Thousands Gather In Minsk For Biggest Protest In Belarus History,” The Guardian, August 16, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/16/belarus-prepares-for-biggest-protest-yet-after-week-of-anger ³ Bojan Pancevski, “Europe Union to Sanction Belarus Officials For Opposition Crackdown,” The Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-to-sanction-belarus-officials-for-opposition-crackdown-11598628934 ⁴ “Opening of the Memorial Complex In Memory of the Burned Villages In The Mogilev Region,” President Of The Republic of Belarus, June 20, 2020, http://president.gov.by/ru/news_ru/view/otkrytie-memorialnogo-kompleksa-pamjati-sozhzhennyx-dereven-mogilevskoj-oblasti-23855/ ⁵ Lucian Kim, “Women Lead The Way Against Belarus’ Patriarch, Says Svetlana Tikhanovskaya,” National Public Radio, September 4, 2020,https://www.npr.org/2020/09/04/909609074/women-lead-the-way-against-belarus-patriarch-says-svetlana-tikhanovskaya ⁶ Tatiana Kalinovskaya, “Thousands Form Human Chains In Belarus After Post-Vote Crackdown,” The Moscow Times, August 14, 2020, https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/08/13/thousands-form-human-chains-in-belarus-after-post-vote-crackdown-a71143