Alexander Lukashenko ‘Sham’ wins seventh straight term in Belarusian elections | Election News

Election officials said Lukashenko received 86.8 percent of the vote, saying the vote was neither free nor fair.

The long-time leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was declared the controversial winner Presidential electionssecuring a seventh straight term for the country’s electoral body.

Lukashenko, who had four opponents on the ballot, cemented his 30-year rule and praised his 30-year rule, winning 86.8 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results from the Central Election Commission on Monday.

“You can congratulate the Republic of Belarus, we have elected a president,” the head of the commission, Igor Karpenko, said at a press conference.

Election officials said that 85.7 percent of Sunday’s voting, about 6.9 million people are eligible to vote.

The leader of Belarus won every presidential election Since 1994In polls, he was rejected by his opponents, western governments and rights groups as “Sham”.

‘Convincing win’

But Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Lukashenko, saying the election showed people’s “unquestionable” support.

“Your convincing victory in the election is due to the unquestionable support of the highest political body and the population for public policy,” Putin said, according to the Kremlin.

“You are always a welcome and dear guest in Russian lands. As agreed, I am waiting for you in Moscow soon. “

The war in Ukraine is more firmly entrenched than ever under Lukashenko, and Russian tactical nuclear weapons are now deployed in Belarus.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping also congratulated Lukashenko.

“Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Lukashenko on his election as President of Belarus.” State news agency Xinhua.

‘no choice’

Other politicians, particularly those in Europe, said the vote was neither free nor fair because independent media were banned in the country, and some leading opposition figures were either jailed or forced into exile abroad.

“The people of Belarus had no choice. This is a bitter day for freedom and democracy for a long time,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted on X.

“More than 1,200 people in Belarus remain innocently imprisoned simply because they had the courage to speak out.”

The country’s last presidential election in 2020 ended with nationwide protests, unprecedented in the history of the country of nine million people. The opposition and Western nations have accused Lukashenko of rigging the election and imposing sanctions.

In response, his government launched a sweeping crackdown, jailing more than 1,000 people, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, founder of the Viasna Center for Human Rights.

Asked about the prison of his opponents, Lukashenko, a press conference on Sunday, said that they chose their own fate.

“Some chose prison, some exiled as you said. We didn’t expel any of them from the country,” he said. A raffling news conference that lasted more than four hours.

Rapid opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told the Reuters news agency that Lukashenko’s re-election was part of a “ritual for dictators”.