President Wins 7th Term in a Landslide!

President Wins 7th Term in a Landslide!

According to preliminary reports, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has won the presidential election, securing a seventh term in office and extending his three-decade-long rule in the former Soviet republic for an additional five years.

Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, reportedly received 87.6% of the votes, with none of his four opponents receiving more than 5%, according to official Belarusian media citing exit polls.

If the result is confirmed, Lukashenko will remain in power until 2030, making him the first and only Belarusian leader since independence. His six consecutive terms in office have been marked by controversy, with the opposition and Western governments accusing him of election fraud, which he has denied.

Following the 2020 election, Lukashenko faced intense international criticism, with the opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claiming she was the rightful winner and being backed by Western governments.

Lukashenko has been criticized in the West for his authoritarian rule, with some labeling him a “dictator.”In a recent statement, he acknowledged that Belarus has a “dictatorship of stability, security, order, friendliness and hospitality”emphasizing the importance of a legitimate electoral process to avoid a “show in the American style.”

Belarus has been a strategic partner of Russia since 1999 and the two countries have strengthened their alliance in recent years, particularly in the wake of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Last year, Moscow and Minsk signed a security agreement in response to the US military buildup in Europe, which includes the deployment of Russian Oreschnik medium-range missiles in Belarus by 2025.

Speaking at a press conference, Lukashenko stated that the missiles will be stationed on Belarusian soil “every day”and added that “one Oreschnik is enough to protect Belarus.