Politics Belarus schedules presidential election for January

The next presidential election in the former Soviet republic of Belarus, ruled by dictator Alexander Lukashenko, has been scheduled for January 26, 2025.

The head of the Central Election Commission, Igor Karpenko, spoke of an "optimal date", as reported by the state news agency Belta in Minsk. According to the law, the poll would have had until July 2025. Observers of developments in Belarus assumed that the election in winter was intended to make protests by the population more difficult.

Wave of protests in summer 2020

Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994 and has made his country Russia's closest ally. His re-election in August 2020 was overshadowed by massive allegations of fraud. The EU states no longer recognize Lukashenko's legitimacy. The few reliable count results suggested that the opposition candidate Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya would have won.

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets against Lukashenko and shook his rule. However, the ruler then used force to break up the protest movement. Hundreds of opponents of the government have been imprisoned ever since.

Lukashenko himself flew to the Brics summit in Kazan, Russia, on Wednesday. In Minsk, the defense ministries of both countries discussed military cooperation.

SDA