Belarusian businesspeople demand the government’s resignation

For the second Monday in as many weeks, individual entrepreneurs (IEs) came to the streets to protest against the unbearable conditions of doing business. Since January 1, most of them have not been allowed to trade in outdoor markets. The protests’ participants were loudly expressing their indignation with the authorities’ policies, demanded the resignation of the government, and even prevented the police from drawing up misdemeanor reports against opposition leaders and entrepreneurs, according to charter97.org. Former political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich addressed the entrepreneurs as well. He called on the IEs to come to Alexander Lukashenko’s administration building before staging their protest and “bring along declarations demanding abolition of the Decree No. 222, abandoning limitations on receiving and importing personal property items from abroad, and a reduction in the prices of utilities’ services.”