Politics Lukashenko declared the winner of the presidential election in Belarus
As expected, the electoral commission in Belarus has declared Alexander Lukashenko the winner of the presidential election, which has been criticized as unfair and unfree - for the seventh time in a row. According to the state news agency Belta, the Russian-backed head of state, who has been in power for 30 years, received 86.82 percent of the vote according to preliminary results. This was announced by the chairman of the election commission. The alleged share of the vote is the highest ever awarded to Lukashenko.
27.01.2025, 06:57
SDA
In post-election polls on Sunday, 87.6 percent of the votes were attributed to the president. Voter turnout in the country often referred to as Europe's last dictatorship was put at 85.7 percent, higher than in 2020 (84.38 percent). Back then, Lukashenko was declared the winner with 80.1 percent of the vote. A press conference by the election commission has been announced for 11 a.m. local time (1 p.m. CET).
"You have to know that the figures published in Belarus have nothing in common with reality," said political scientist Valery Karbalevich, who fled into exile because his life was in danger, to the German press agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur. "The power apparatus determines the figures in advance." According to Karbalevich, Lukashenko would have had no chance of winning in an election with real opponents. Four competitors were allowed to take part in the vote, who are known to be fervent supporters of Lukashenko and are considered mere extras.
