Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko declared himself president for his seventh consecutive term in an election on Jan. 26 internationally deemed as neither free nor fair.
The Belarusian Election Commission claimed that Lukashenko "won" 86.82% of the vote, followed by regime-approved and little-known candidates like Sergey Syrankov with 3.21% or Oleg Gaidukevich with 2.02%. Some 3.6% of the ballots voted "against all."
"You can congratulate the Republic of Belarus, we have elected a president," said Igor Karpenko, the head of the electoral commission, early on Jan. 27. The commission claimed a 85.7% turnout.
Lukashenko, the country's leader since 1994 and Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally, has long been accused of staging fraudulent elections in Belarus.
In 2020, during the last presidential election, Lukashenko maintained power despite the country's most prominent opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, receiving popular support. The now-exiled opposition leader said she won with 60% of the vote.
Following the fabricated results in 2020, mass protest erupted in Minsk but were ultimately quelled with the support of Russia. According to the Belarusian human rights group Viasna, over 60,000 citizens have been detained for political reasons since the 2020 election.
Tsikhanouskaya responded to the election results on Jan. 26 by condemning the legitimacy of the vote and rejecting Lukashenko as president.
"These are not elections but a 'special operation' to illegally cling to power. Lukashenko, propped up by Putin, holds 9 million Belarusians hostage, drags us into war, and betrays our sovereignty," she wrote on X.
"He does not represent Belarus. The regime must end its repressions, release political prisoners, and be held accountable for its crimes. Belarusians will prevail!"
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s chief diplomat, echoed similar sentiments on X on Jan. 25.
"Lukashenko has clung to power for 30 years. Tomorrow, he’ll reappoint himself in yet another sham election. This is a blatant affront to democracy. Lukashenko doesn’t have any legitimacy," she said.
Notably, Lukashenko declined to invite a mission from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to observe the country's presidential election.
On Nov. 22, state-run news outlet Belta reported that Lukashenko may completely shut down the internet during the 2025 presidential elections if protests similar to those in 2020 arise.
"If this (the protests) happens again, we will shut the internet down completely," Lukashenko said, admitting that internet shutdowns during the 2020 protests were carried out with his approval.
While Belarus has not directly participated in the war against Ukraine, it has allowed the Kremlin to use its territory as a staging ground for its operations. The country is also reportedly hosting Russian tactical nuclear arms on its territory.
Martin Fornusek
(Updated: )
