Belarus: Lukashenko extends his rule again

The Central Election Commission declared Lukashenko the winner in the early hours of Monday and reaffirmed it later in the morning, saying the strongman leader garnered nearly 87 per cent of the vote after a campaign in which four token challengers all have praised his rule

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko extended his more than three decades in power in Sunday’s orchestrated election that the opposition and the European Union (EU) rejected as a sham.

The Central Election Commission declared Lukashenko the winner in the early hours of Monday and reaffirmed it later in the morning, saying the strongman leader garnered nearly 87 per cent of the vote after a campaign in which four token challengers all have praised his rule.

President Alexander Lukashenko Pics/AFP

Lukashenko’s opponents, many of whom are imprisoned or exiled abroad by his unrelenting crackdown on dissent and free speech, called the election a sham, much like the last one in 2020 that triggered months of protests that were unprecedented in the history of the country of 9 million people.

Over the following four years, more than 65,000 people were arrested and thousands beaten up, with the crackdown bringing condemnation and sanctions from the West. The EU has rejected the Sunday’s election as illegitimate and threatened new sanctions.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!