Around 2,000 people took to the streets of Gomel, Belarus’s second city, the independent news agency tut.by reported, and hundreds more marched in other cities. About 60,000 people have signed a petition opposing the law, which requires people who were employed fewer than 183 days in a calendar year to pay a tax of about $200 to combat what Lukashenka calls “social parasitism.”

The law exempts registered job-seekers, homemakers, subsistence farmers, and those working in Russia. FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016 file photo, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend the talks in Minsk, Belarus. Tax authorities say around 470,000 people are liable for the tax, but fewer than 10 percent have paid, generating just $6 million in extra revenue for the government.
Demonstrations spread to the second city of Belarus—Gomel—where 2,000 march against a 2015 tax law.