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Opposition youths stage mock coronation ceremony in downtown Minsk

Five activists of an opposition youth group called Malady Front staged a mock coronation ceremony in downtown Minsk to protest the so-called Fourth All-Belarusian People's Assembly, which began earlier on Monday as the culmination of Alyaksandr Lukashenka's reelection campaign.

"We simply want to parody this circus of an assembly," participant Tatsyana Shaputska told BelaPAN.

The event began near the HUM department store at 3 p.m. and lasted about 30 minutes. Participants chanted, "Glory to the King! Vote Early!" and "Our Country is a Monarchy!" and displayed signs saying, among other things, "I Want a Baby by Lukashenka!" and "I Believe in the Holiness of my President!"

The young people distributed a flyer asking on behalf of "Alyaksandr of Shklow" to allow him to remain president forever and invited passers-by to pray for the results of the December 19 election. The flyer began with the sentence, "Our Father which art in Belarus! Hallowed be thy bold head…"

“Everybody knows that Belarus is a presidential republic,” Malady Front Deputy Chairman Mikalay Dzemidzenka told BelaPAN. “Sixteen years ago we elected a president, but it turned out later that we elected a tsar. In this humorous style, we want to stress that we don’t need a tsar. We want to be friends with all countries, not only with backward dictatorships.”

Police officers in plain clothes filmed the event on a video camera. The youths had to leave after the plainclothesmen had prevented them from marching toward the nearby Palace of the Republic, where the All-Belarusian People's Assembly was being held.