Election officers say Lukashenko obtained 86.8 p.c of the vote amid accusations that the vote was neither free nor honest.
Longtime Belarusian chief Alexander Lukashenko has been declared winner of a disputed presidential election, securing a seventh straight time period, based on the nation’s electoral physique.
Lukashenko, whose 4 opponents on the poll have been loyal to him and praised his 30-year rule, took 86.8 p.c of the vote, based on preliminary outcomes printed by the Central Election Fee on its official Telegram account on Monday.
“You may congratulate the Republic of Belarus, we’ve elected a president,” Igor Karpenko, head of the fee, informed a information convention.
Election officers stated turnout in Sunday’s vote was 85.7 p.c, with about 6.9 million folks eligible to vote.
The Belarusian chief has gained each presidential election since 1994, in polls that his opponents, Western governments and rights teams rejected as a “sham”.
‘Convincing victory’
However Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Lukashenko, saying the election confirmed he had the “undoubted” backing of the folks.
“Your convincing victory within the election clearly testifies to your excessive political authority and to the undoubted assist of the inhabitants for the state coverage Belarus is pursuing,” Putin stated, based on a press release by the Kremlin.
“You might be all the time a welcome and pricey visitor on Russian soil. As agreed, I look ahead to seeing you quickly in Moscow.”
The battle in Ukraine has certain Lukashenko extra tightly than ever to Putin, and Russian tactical nuclear weapons at the moment are deployed in Belarus.
Chinese language chief Xi Jinping additionally congratulated Lukashenko, Beijing’s state media reported.
“Xi Jinping despatched a congratulatory message to Lukashenko on his re-election as President of Belarus,” state information company Xinhua stated.
‘No alternative’
Different politicians, particularly these in Europe, stated the vote was neither free nor honest as a result of impartial media have been banned within the nation and all main opposition figures had both been jailed or pressured to hunt exile overseas.
“The folks of Belarus had no alternative. It’s a bitter day for all those that lengthy for freedom and democracy,” German Overseas Minister Annalena Baerbock posted on X.
“Over 1,200 folks in Belarus stay innocently imprisoned just because they’d the braveness to talk out.”
The nation’s final presidential election in 2020 ended with nationwide protests, unprecedented within the historical past of the nation of 9 million folks. The opposition and Western nations accused Lukashenko of rigging the election and imposed sanctions.
In response, his authorities launched a sweeping crackdown, leaving greater than 1,000 folks imprisoned, together with Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, founding father of the Viasna Human Rights Centre.
Requested in regards to the jailing of his opponents, Lukashenko informed a information convention on Sunday that they’d chosen their very own destiny.
“Some selected jail, some selected exile, as you say. We didn’t kick anybody in another country,” he informed a rambling information convention that lasted greater than 4 hours.
Exiled opposition chief Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya informed the Reuters information company Lukashenko engineered his re-election as a part of a “ritual for dictators”.
