Reuters: Tax On "Parasites" Gave Rise To Belarusians’ Largest Protest For Years

• 20.02.2017, 17:26

Thousands of people gathered for a rally in the Minsk center.

"On Friday, about two thousand Belarusians, discontented with the tax on non-working citizens, came to the center of Minsk for the largest protest in recent years.

Lukashenka obliged every able-bodied Belarusian to pay about $ 250, if the person worked less than 6 months and did not register at the labor exchange in the past year," – Reuters writes.

At the end of the working week, protesters gathered for an unsanctioned rally under the slogans "Get Nothing, Not The Tax" and "The President Is The Main Parasite", and then moved to the Government House.

"I'm not going to pay. This is absurd. It’s the return of the feudal rights," – one of the protesters Mikhail Hutseyeu said.

The authorities did not interfere with the march and the police in the uniform was hard to notice.

"Lukashenka explained the tax on parasites by his fight against the shadow economy. Only a tenth of the 47,000 social dependents paid him, and the budget received only $ 6 million," – Reuters reports.

"This is an obvious failure in economic terms, – Reuters quotes political scientist Aliaksandr Klaskouski. – It backfired on the authorities. The discontent, caused by this particular decree, is doubled by the discontent, caused by the present economic situation."

"Belarus has been in recession for the second year in a row, and the number of unemployed has increased by 150,000 people since the adoption of the decree on the new tax. At that, only 30,000 people are registered officially: one has to participate in public works to receive a $ 10 unemployment benefit," – the newspaper reminds.