Belarus-style Protest Following Traffic Rules and Cleaning Up Trash

Protesters Gave Flowers to Police and Held Demonstrations While Following Traffic Rules
Russia and Others Tried to Dispatch Police Reserves but Without Justification

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The Belarusian protesters, who have been demonstrating for over a month condemning election fraud, are drawing attention from foreign media as they clean up trash and other debris after ending their protests.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

On the 23rd (local time), The Washington Post (WP) reported that the protests across Belarus have shown a different pattern from the color revolutions seen in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. While other movements that triggered regime changes often involved violent protests, the demonstrations in Belarus have been notably thoughtful and peaceful.

After the protests end, the streets return to their original state. In fact, if protesters climb onto street benches to demonstrate, they even take off their shoes to avoid dirtying them. It is rare to find incidents such as broken building windows during these large-scale protests.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In Belarus, protests condemning election fraud have continued daily since last month's presidential election. President Aleksandr Lukashenko was officially reported to have received 80.1% of the vote, but citizens have rejected this result. Major countries have also expressed doubts about the Belarusian election outcome. On this day, Lukashenko even held a secret inauguration ceremony without informing the media.

The peaceful nature of the protests has had positive aspects, such as gaining public support and blocking possible interference from Russia. Because the protests have proceeded peacefully, those tasked with suppressing them have found themselves in a difficult position. Although President Lukashenko has labeled the protesters as "criminals" or "unemployed," he has failed to gain public support. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that if Belarus faced an uncontrollable situation, Russia would deploy police reserves. However, those reserves have since withdrawn.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Women have played a significant role in maintaining the peaceful nature of the protests. Immediately after last month's election, when harsh crackdowns were underway, women handed flowers to riot police as a form of protest. However, as the protests prolonged and police intensified their response, tactics shifted. Recently, women have been seen removing the balaclavas (head and face-covering winter hats) from riot police who concealed their faces.

Of course, there is considerable internal debate among Belarusian protesters about the peaceful protest approach. Some argue that more active forms of protest are necessary. There are criticisms that the Belarusian protests are too peaceful to achieve a revolution. Others suggest that living under President Lukashenko, who has long emphasized a clean city, has ingrained a sense of order almost like a meme (a non-genetic cultural element).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.