Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has secured his seventh term in office, extending his three-decade rule for another five years. Central Electoral Commission chief Igor Karpenko announced the results early Monday.
Lukashenko, a former Soviet-era general, won 88% in Sunday’s election, indicating a landslide victory. No other candidate received more than 5% of the votes.
Belarus’s first and only post-independence leader, Lukashenko, has led the country since 1994. He was criticized in the West and accused of vote rigging after his last election in 2020, which he denied.
Widespread protests broke out after that election, and pro-Western opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya still insists she won that election and continuing to refer to herself as Belarus’ “elected president.” But Lukashenko pays no attention to that.
She has since flee into exile in Warsaw, Poland. At least 65,000 people were arrested during protests that year – one of the most trying moment’s to Lukashenko’s hold on power.
The European Dictator Admits It
In the West, Lukashenko is frequently referred to as a dictator. In November last year, he admitted to being a dictator, Belarus dictatorship was one of “stability, security, order, kindness, and hospitality.”
He stressed the need for a dignified electoral process, avoiding what he described as an “American-style show” that sometimes leads to violence like the 2020 US disputed election. Donald Trump might agree with him.
Lukashenko has consistently defended his leadership as necessary for maintaining stability and countering foreign influence.
In January, he said it was better to have a “dictatorship like in Belarus than a democracy like in Ukraine.” Ukraine has experienced two uprisings in recent decades, including the 2014 coup, which led to the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych. These events laid the foundation of the conflict in Ukraine today.
Lukashenko has been a strategic partner to Vladimir Putin since 2000, with Russia and Belarus both members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – the Russia-led version of NATO.
The 71-years-old Lukashenko will serve until 2030, which will be 35 years in power, making him the longest-serving European leader, and one of the longest in recent world history.
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