Belarus residents are voting in Sunday’s presidential election when President Alexander Lukashenko is looking for the seventh mandate for governance.
For the past 30 years, 70 -year -old Lukashenko, which many analysts have called “the last dictator of Europe”, has ruled the country with a fist, crushed all opposition and voices against him.
The President, who did not participate in the election campaign in the race, told the factory workers last week, “Tell me the truth, I do not practice it. I don’t have time for it.”
But after the last elections of 2020, when the leader was declared a winner despite reports of public anger against him, mass protests began. The opposition and the West claimed that their victory was stolen from a deceitful and leading candidate, Sivelana Tuskhanoskaya, who was forced to flee the country.
Now, their political opponents have either been jailed or deported, Lukashenko’s success on Sunday is considered widely but guaranteed.
Elections were initially planned for August but was moved to severe winter. One of the reasons for this was, Belarusi political analyst Valerie Karbilich advised the Associated Press News Agency: “There will not be widespread demonstrations in January.”
Here you need to know about the elections:
When do the belts open?
The polling began at 8am (05:00 GMT) across the country and will be open at 8pm (17:00 GMT).
Belarus works on a simple -majority system, where citizens vote for the head of state and the legislature every five years.
Belarusis of 18 years and older will be able to take part.
The results are expected by February 5, and if necessary, the second round will be on February 12.
How many people are expected to vote?
The state news agency Belta reported on Friday that turnout was 27.15 percent after three days of preliminary voting.
He said last week that in a public opinion survey conducted in December, which interviewed 1500 people, 85.5 % of the registered voters indicated that they would vote in the next election.
According to Statistica, the data collecting platform, about 84 % of eligible voters exercised their right to vote in the presidential elections in August 2020.
He added that the lowest number of “more than 66 percent” voters was recorded in the capital Minsk.
However, Belarusi abroad will only be able to participate in the elections by returning to the country and voting at the regional polling station.
Who is competing against Lukashenko?
According to the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC), four candidates have been registered to contest the elections.
Liberal Democrats chairman Olegg Gedovich announced his candidacy in October, and told the First News Channel that “healthy competition should be a debate”.
The first secretary of the Communist Party’s Central Committee Sergei Saranikov is also on the belt.
Former Member of Parliament, Anna Kantaskaya, who is contesting in the 2020 presidential election, is also participating. And the Chairman of the Republican Labor Party, Alexander Treasury, is the fourth candidate.
However, a Belarusian educationist at the University of Lithuania, Titsiana Chatskaya, told Reuters news agency that no candidate criticized Lukashenko during his election campaign.
“They are not a candidate in the general sense of the word. They are just playing in this campaign. They are not competing with Lukashenko,” he said in a phone interview.
What happened in 2020?
After the August elections, the CEC announced that Lukashenko had been re -elected and received 80.1 percent of the vote, and had won his victory over Tuskhanoskia.
However. Accused.
Due to the election results, a large number of peaceful public demonstrations broke out in Minsk, demanding Lukashenko to resign.
But protesters faced severe crackdowns and widespread arrests, Belarusi Human Rights group Vyasna reported this week More than 3,270 people The 2020 has been convicted of joining the protest.
In addition, the group found that more than 1200 political prisoners In the country, Lukashenko released 23 political prisoners last week, in which state media cited humanitarian indications, apparently with the last days before the elections.
Has the election received any reaction?
Tsikhanouskaya calls from the West to reject the “illegal” elections on the X.
He told BBC News that the election was a “fraud”, adding, “This is a military -style act. A performance by the government to hold power.
But Taskhanoskaya told Belaruses not to protest as they did in the last election, saying, “You have to be safe for a real moment of possibility.”
Meanwhile, the European Parliament on Wednesday approved a resolution to reject the election results.
“MPS Belarusi expresses his unwavering support for the people of democracy, freedom and human rights, while reaffiring Mr Lukashenko as president and reaffirming his position of the Belarusi government being illegal. “A statement from the European Parliament. Read
Last week, former US Secretary of State Antony Blankin said elections could not be free or fair in an environment where censorship is present everywhere and free media outlets are no longer existed.
He added that the United States condemned the Belarusian government’s efforts to “legitimate” elections.
