Minsk: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko secured an overwhelming victory in the presidential election on Sunday, extending his 31-year reign, with preliminary results showing him winning 86.8% of the vote. However, Western governments quickly denounced the election as fraudulent, with accusations of suppression and political repression clouding the outcome.
The head of Belarus’s Central Election Commission, Igor Karpenko, made the announcement early Monday, declaring, “You can congratulate the Republic of Belarus, we have elected a president,” according to Russian state media. The announcement was met with skepticism and criticism from European leaders, who questioned the legitimacy of the election.
“This was not a free or fair vote,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on social media, emphasizing that independent media were banned and that all significant opposition figures had either been imprisoned or forced into exile. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski sarcastically remarked, “Will the rest fit inside the prisons?” in reference to the lopsided election result.
Lukashenko’s political grip on Belarus has long been solidified through widespread suppression of dissent and a tight control over media and political opposition. When asked about the imprisonment and exile of his political opponents, Lukashenko responded, “Some chose prison, some chose ‘exile’, as you say. We didn’t kick anyone out of the country.”
Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also dismissed Western criticism, declaring, “I don’t give a damn about the West,” during a lengthy and often defiant press conference following his re-election.
The election, which took place amidst an ongoing climate of political oppression in Belarus, is likely to further isolate the country from Western nations, with many condemning the lack of democratic processes. This latest political development signals the continuation of Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule in Belarus, in defiance of international calls for reform.
