A crowd of protesters that had assembled outside the home of the president in the Belarusian capital had the opportunity to talk face to face with one of his aides, Nikolay Latyshenok. However, once again, they were told the government considers the presidential election that handed victory to Lukashenko “fair.”
The official then called on the protesters to “resolve all issues in a peaceful way,” and informed them that the government was already working on the draft of a new constitution. Earlier, Lukashenko revealed he was considering the possibility of rerunning the election once the new constitution had been adopted.
Nonetheless, it appears the president was prepared for a less peaceful scenario too. At around the same time as his aide was meeting with demonstrators, Russia’s RIA news agency received a photo from Lukashenko’s spokeswoman in which Lukashenko was pictured outside his residence wearing what looked like a bulletproof vest and brandishing an assault rifle.
Last Sunday, the president was filmed wearing a similar tactical vest and carrying an AK assault rifle as he was flown over Minsk in a helicopter and again later, as he strolled toward his residence.