Authoritarian Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko has won another victory in an election labeled an embarrassment by Western governments.
The Central Election Committee said on Monday that Lukashenko won 86.8% of the vote and that the turnout was about 87%.
There were four other names on the ballot – carefully chosen to present no challenge to the current leadership – but no credible contenders were allowed to run, as all opposition figures are either in jail. or are in exile abroad.
No independent observers monitored the vote.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallis, said the election was a clear contest for democracy, while German Foreign Minister Annelina Bierbach posted on X that “the people of Belarus had no choice”.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin – who has ruled Russia since 2000 – congratulated his close ally Lukashenko on his “solid victory”.
Peskov said Moscow believed the Belarusian elections were “absolutely legitimate, well-organized, transparent elections” and criticized “voices from the West”.
The leaders of China, Venezuela and Pakistan also congratulated Lukashenko.
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhonovskaya dismissed the election as “another political travesty”.
She claimed victory in the 2020 elections, standing in place of her jailed husband.
Lukashenko mistakenly believed that Tikhonovskaya would pose no challenge to him – but was then kicked out of the country when he appeared to be gaining widespread support.
There is no longer any opposition left in Belarus, which has also shut down all its independent media.
On Sunday evening, Lukashenko told the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg that his opponents had “chosen” jail or exile.
“We have never forced anyone out of the country,” he said. He added that he “couldn’t care less.” [the West] Recognizes our elections”.
This will be Lukashenko’s seventh term in power. He has, to date, been the sole leader of Belarus since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
