December 7, 2020●She’sspentfourmonthsin
exilesinceherunlikelycampaign
turnedinto thebiggestchallenge
evertolongtimedictator
AlexanderLukashenko.Untillastspring,Tsikhanouskaya
ledthelifeofatypicalBelorussian
homemaker,focusedlargelyoncar-
ingforhertwochildrenandcoping
withtheinevitablechallengesof
gettingbyina post-Sovietrepublic
wheretheaveragemonthlysalary
is about$500.Butforthepastsix
months,she’sspentherdaysspeak-
ingat internationalconferences,
chatting withthelikesofAngela
MerkelandEmmanuelMacron,and
spearheadingthebiggestdemo-
craticmovementinthehistoryof
thetroubledcountrysandwiched
betweenPolandandRussia.
Tsikhanouskayabecametheface
ofdemocracyinBelarusalmostby
accident.In Maypolicedetainedher
husband,Siarhei,a politicalblog-
ger,ashepreparedtochallenge
Lukashenko for the presidency.
After the arrest,
Tsikhanouskaya,38,
decided to run in
Siarhei’s place and
began gatheringthe
signatures needed
to register hercan-
didacy. The former
Englishteachersoon
received telephone
threats, prompting her to send
herchildrenabroad—butsteeling
herresolvetorun.“Peoplebegan
calling me,telling me,‘So many
people were collecting these sig-
natures, standing up for you,’ ”
Tsikhanouskaya says via Zoom in
lightly accented English. “I realized
that I can’t betray those hopes.”
Lukashenko, who has routinely jailed political oppo-
nents and deployed security forces to maintain his grip on
power for 26 years, barred most opposition figures from
running. But in July the authorities accepted the applica-
tions of Tsikhanouskaya and three nominally independent
candidates with no prospect of winning. As the opposition
united behind Tsikhanouskaya, she began drawing huge
crowds, culminating in a rally on July 30 attended by some60,000 people—spooking authorities into barring her from
holding any further mass campaign events.
Tsikhanouskaya’s platform was simple: She prom-
isedtoreleasepoliticalprisonersandtostepdownwithin
sixmonths after overseeing free elections. Although her
message clearly resonated, when the results of the Aug. 9
election were tallied, Lukashenko claimed to have received
80% of the votes in a contest the U.S. and the European
Union say was neither free nor fair.
Lukashenko’s response triggered unprecedented
demonstrations, with crowds swelling to more than
100,000 but remaining mostly peaceful in the face of bru-
tal police crackdowns, mass arrests, and allegations that
detained activists were being tortured. When Tsikhanouskaya
filed a fraud complaint with the election commission on the
day after the vote, she was detained for seven hours in the
capital, Minsk. That night she fled to neighboring Lithuania,
where her children had been living with friends since June.
Becoming a public figure wasn’t easy. Tsikhanouskaya
recalls fearing she would forget what she intended to say
during early interviews and speeches. But with time she
became energized by the crowds. “I just started to talk
from my heart,” she says. She rejects the notion that she
headstheoppositioninBelarus,sayingthemovementis
self-organizing.Moreimportant,sheinsiststhatthepeople
whospeakoutagainstLukashenko’stacticsaren’tthe
opposition at all: “We are the majority.”
Key to Tsikhanouskaya’s appeal, says Artyom Shraibman,founderofpoliticalconsultingfirmSenseAnalyticsin Minsk,
is thatshe’sa “reluctantpolitician.”Otherthanachieving
hergoalofnewelections,“shedoesn’twantanypower,”
saysShraibman,whorunsa popularBelaruspoliticsblog
ontheTelegrammessagingservice,whichisdifficultfor
authoritiestoblock.“She’sdemonstrated a level of cour-
age no male politician has shown.”
Tsikhanouskaya’s days in exile are filled by strategy meet-
ings with groups back in Belarus—where she yearns to
return, though she says she can’t while Lukashenko remains
in power. She says she has few regrets about her current
position, beyond the toll it’s taken on her family; with Siarhei
in a Minsk jail, the couple’s daughter “cries every evening,
‘I want my dad’ ”—which keeps Tsikhanouskaya focused on
doing the work that will let her reunite the family back home.
“I don’t have a right to cry, to panic,” she says. “I just main-
tain a cold mind and do what I have to do.” �Tony Halpin52