After decades in power, a bungled Covid-19 response has triggered a genuine electoral challenge
Viktor Babariko, an outspoken ex-banker, embodies elite discontent with Belarus’s Alexander Lukashenko and his 26 years at the head of Europe’s most authoritarian state.
After decades out of politics, Babariko says he decided to mount a challenge and run for president this year both to oppose economic integration with Russia and because of the “totally irresponsible” handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Lukashenko refused to impose a lockdown, claimed that drinking vodka would keep the virus at bay and went ahead with a 9 May Victory Day parade involving thousands of soldiers and elderly war veterans.
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