Belarus’ Dictatorial President Has Won a Fifth Term After Controversial Election
Belarus’ Dictatorial President Has Won a Fifth Term After Controversial Election
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Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko speaks with journalists at a polling station in Minsk, Belarus, on Oct. 11, 2015Maxim Malinovsky—AFP/Getty Images
Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko won a fifth consecutive term in power on Sunday, extending his 21-year-long regime in a country diplomatically sandwiched between Russia and the West.
Lukashenko took 83.5% of the vote, the country’s Central Election Commission reported. This landslide exceeded Lukashenko’s 2010 victory that saw him re-elected with 80% of the vote, according to Reuters.
In the run up to the vote, the strong-arm ruler nominally eased pressure on opposition groups. He pardoned six opposition leaders in August, including Nikolai Statkevich, a former candidate who was jailed after participating in postelection protests in 2010.
But opposition figures called for a boycott of this election, with no candidate able to represent a serious challenge to the incumbent.
Western observers have also been skeptical over Belarus’ previous elections. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a group monitoring the latest polls, is scheduled to present its findings Monday.
“We have carried out everything the West wanted on the eve of the elections,” Lukashenko maintained after casting his vote. “The ball is now firmly in the West’s court.”
The West has long condemned Belarus’ human-rights record and leveled economic sanctions against its leading officials, Reuters says. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice even called it “Europe’s last dictatorship.”
However, relations have thawed recently. Lukashenko won the West’s approval for criticizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea, hosting peace talks for the Ukraine crisis and denying Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to build an air base in Belarus.
Troops belonging to the Ukrainian Army and the Aidar battalion, a volunteer fighting unit, rest in the town of Shastya, Ukraine. Shastya means "happiness." Once a picturesque town of 13,000 in Luhansk Oblast, Shastya has become the frontline between Ukrainian forces and the forces of the breakaway Luhansk People's Republic. Ross McDonnellUkrainian soldiers conduct operations along the road in Artemivsk, Ukraine, leading to the embattled town of Debaltseve Feb. 15, 2015. A ceasefire between Pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian forces brokered by the European Union, Russia and Ukraine began at midnight that day.Ross McDonnellUkrainian soldiers conduct operations along the road in Artemivsk, Ukraine, Feb.15, 2015.Ross McDonnellThe embattled city of Debaltseve in eastern Ukraine was the site of a massive offensive by rebel forces to wrest it from Ukrainian control. Debaltseve is a strategic town that provides links between Donetsk and Lugansk, the two separatist dominated regions, Feb. 5, 2015. Ross McDonnellA frontline trench in Shastya, eastern Ukraine, where fighting was ongoing between Ukrainian military and volunteer fighters against the Russian supported forces of the breakaway Luhansk People's Republic, Feb. 8, 2015. Ross McDonnellMembers of the right wing Transcarpathian Sich battalion have taken over a bombed-out mine as their base on the frontline in Pisky, Ukraine, Feb. 10, 2015. They fire light artillery and machine guns at enemy positions seeking to open up a new flank against the separatists.Ross McDonnellThe view from the trench "Alpinist" at night. A destroyed tank lies on what used to be the main road to Donetsk City. Feb. 8, 2015. Ross McDonnellArtillery and shelling are constant on the front line in Pisky, Ukraine, Feb. 12, 2015. Ross McDonnellFresh graves on the outskirts of the town of Avdiivka, Ukraine, Feb. 9, 2015. Ross McDonnellDusk scenes along the front in Pisky, Ukraine, Feb. 10, 2015. Ross McDonnellA Ukrainian Orthodox priest ministers to a volunteer member of the Aidar Battalion, a volunteer group fighting against Russian separatists in Shastya in the restive region of Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, Feb. 8, 2015.Shelling ahead of the ceasefire left one boy dead and destruction in the city of Artemivsk, near the embattled of Debaltseva, Feb. 13, 2015. Ross McDonnellResidents flee after the city of Artemivsk was destroyed by shelling, Feb. 13, 2015. Ross McDonnellA member of the right wing Transcarpathian Sich Battalion rests in a safe room in Pisky, Ukraine, Feb. 12, 2015.Ross McDonnellFuneral of seven-year-old Igor Molodetskykh, killed in a shelling by separatist rebels, is held in Artemivsk, Ukraine, Feb. 15, 2015. Ross McDonnellA resident walks in shock on the streets of Artemivsk after rocket fire left two dead, Ukraine, Feb. 13, 2015. Ross McDonnellFreezing weather has left food frozen, in Artemivsk, Ukraine, Feb. 15, 2015. Ross McDonnellMembers of the Dnipro-1 battalion play chess in their base in Pisky, Feb. 9, 2015. Ross McDonnellMembers of the Dnipro-1 Battalion live in the basement of a destroyed house in Pisky, with food donated by the Ukrainian public, Feb. 9, 2015. Ross McDonnellThe right wing Transcarpathian Sich battalion has taken over a bombed out mine as its base on the frontline in Pisky. Fighters fire light artillery and machine guns at enemy positions seeking to open up a new flank against the separatists, Feb. 15, 2015. Ross McDonnellA Ukrainian soldier stares out a bus window as Ukrainian troops withdraw in defeat from the city of Debaltseve, Feb. 19, 2015. After almost a month of fighting and heavy shelling on the road out of the city, Ukrainian fighters return to the nearby town of Artemivsk. The Minsk 2 ceasefire has been largely ignored with fighting ongoing for the strategic town.Ross McDonnell
