Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has leapt from being a stay-at-home mum to being dubbed one of the most powerful women in Belarus.

Her rise to prominence has been as quick as it has been unlikely.

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The 37-year-old was unknown at the end of May. But that all changed when she entered the race to be the country’s next president.

She was pushed to act after her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky — a popular blogger — was jailed and disqualified from running.

Tikhanovskaya is challenging Belarus’ long-time incumbent, Alexander Lukashenko, who has been the only president the country has ever known.

In power for 26 years, he has been dubbed Europe’s last dictator. Since 1994, elections have tended to be a formality, actively controlled and suppressed, according to human rights organisations.

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Lukashenko has always been credited with more than 70 per cent of the votes in presidential elections, but this year could be different.

Tikhanovskaya, a former translator and a stay-at-home ..

The Bulgarian prime minister’s offer to resign on Wednesday in an attempt to calm month-long protests appeared to have fallen on deaf ears.

“If I’m the problem, then I’m leaving right now,” Boïko Borissov said, but only if it would allow his majority to remain in government until the next elections in March 2021.

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A few hours later, protesters gathered for their daily rally; many said they remain unconvinced.

Thousands of delegates of the ruling GERB party came out to support the leader as he took the stage to make his announcement.

“I don’t want there to be any tension because of me. We stand by the unity of the nation, whatever the cost, because we have difficult times ahead of us, and I’m not saying this to scare people,” Borissov said.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets with the same demands for 28 days — they want the country’s entire cabinet to resign and elections to be held.

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