Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Democracy is about participation in the first place. And with participation comes responsibility for decisions and actions.

Sviatlana Heorhiyeuna Tsikhanouskaya or Svetlana Georgiyevna Tikhanovskaya (Belarusian: Святлана Георгіеўна Ціханоўская / Śviatłana Hieorhijeŭna Cichanoŭskaja) (Russian: Светлана Георгиевна Тихановская) (born 11 September 1982) is a Belarusian human rights activist and politician who ran in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election as the main opposition candidate after her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky was arrested.

Quotes

I have no right to give up, because people who are in jail didn't give up. They now are suffering for us. Only these people, the families of those repressed in Belarus, have given me the energy to go on.

• Personally, I am against deeper integration with Russia because Belarus is a sovereign nation. We want to be independent. We want to find friends and not enemies among other countries.
  • "«Нельзя так со своим народом»Главная соперница Лукашенко — о том, почему у белорусов кончилось терпение и нужна ли им Россия" (30 July 2020)

• I know that people have chosen me, that I'm a national leader. I'm a national elected president and I'm here with them.
  • "We are not opposition anymore. We are the majority" in TVN24 (2 September 2020)

• We will need a President who is experienced in economics, in politics, in strategy. I am not supposed to say this, but that’s clearly not me. We have people in Belarus, including among the political prisoners, who deserve to be in this position. People will make their choice. And then, even if things don’t go as we want them to, we will all share the responsibility, because this will have been the people’s choice.
  • "Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Is Overcoming Her Fears" in The New Yorker (13 December 2020)

• I know that Belarusians woke up. Belarusians—we will never return to the state of slaves, as we had been living for 27 years. I don’t hope—I’m sure, that Belarus will be a success story. We will win [against] autocracy. We will bring our country to democratic changes. I take this belief from the Belarusian people, from those who are behind the bars. I take this belief from democratic countries that are standing with Belarusians at this difficult moment. Together, with the free world, we will be able to bring our country, our wonderful Belarus to these changes as well.
  • "The Pen Pod: Resilience, Struggle, And The Fight For Freedom In Belarus With Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya" in PEN America (23 July 2021)

• I call on the USA to be with us. It’s very important when a regime is destroying everything in Belarus, destroying mass media, destroying all the organizations, it’s extremely important to support all those people.
  • "Belarusian Opposition Leader Hopes to Spur Action During Washington Visit" in Voice of America (19 July 2021)

• I think that people have put too much responsibility on me. People are forgetting that a year ago I was just a mother, not at all involved in politics. I have had to study a lot and I’m trying to do what I can, where I am … But the responsibility isn’t just on me, it’s on all Belarusians.
  • "Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: ‘Belarusians weren’t ready for this level of cruelty’" in The Guardian (9 August 2021)

• I’m here on this place by fate. I’m here only because I believed Belarusians that they want changes, and people believed in me. Now, and I’m doing what I can. You know, I can’t call myself the leader of the revolution because it’s everybody who is doing something is already a leader, because it’s impossible, you know, to organize everybody. People are self-organized. You’re right, I’m not going to participate in new elections. It’s not my aim. And I talked about this to Belarusians in the presidential campaign. My mandate is only to be with Belarusians till we bring our country to new elections.
  • "A Conversation With Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya" in Council on Foreign Relations (26 July 2021)

• But I understand I have no right to give up, because people who are in jail didn't give up. They now are suffering for us. Only these people, the families of those repressed in Belarus, have given me the energy to go on.
  • "Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya says 'harsh' sanctions needed" in DW (12 June 2021)

• Democracy is about participation in the first place. And with participation comes responsibility for decisions and actions.
  • "Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Leader Of The Democracy Movement In Belarus" in Faces of Democracy (6 July 2021)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Wikipedia
• Media related to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Wikimedia Commons