Belarus presidential election: Who’s taking on Lukashenko, does it matter?

Belarusians are voting successful a statesmanlike predetermination connected Sunday arsenic President Alexander Lukashenko seeks a seventh mandate to rule.

For the past 30 years, Lukashenko, 70, dubbed by galore analysts arsenic “Europe’s past dictator”, has ruled implicit the state with an robust fist, crushing each absorption and voices against him.

The president, who has not engaged with an predetermination run this run, told mill workers past week, “To beryllium honorable I don’t travel it. I simply don’t person clip for it.”

But aft the past predetermination successful 2020, erstwhile the person was declared the victor contempt reports of a groundswell of fashionable choler against him, wide protests erupted. The absorption and the West claimed his triumph was fraudulent and stolen from the campaigner Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to fly the country.

Now, with his governmental opponents either jailed oregon exiled, his occurrence connected Sunday is wide believed to beryllium each but guaranteed.

The predetermination was initially planned for August but was moved to heavy winter. There was a reason, Belarusian governmental expert Valery Karbalevich suggested to The Associated Press: “There won’t beryllium wide protests successful freezing January.”

Here’s what you request to cognize astir the election:

When bash ballots open?

Polls opened crossed the state astatine 8am (05:00 GMT) and enactment unfastened until 8pm (17:00 GMT).

Belarus operates connected a elemental bulk system, wherever citizens ballot for the caput of authorities and the legislature each 5 years.

Belarusians implicit the property of 18 volition beryllium capable to instrumentality part.

Election results are expected to beryllium known by February 5, and a 2nd round, if necessary, volition hap connected February 12.

How galore radical are expected to vote?

State quality bureau BelTA reported connected Friday that aft 3 days of aboriginal voting, turnout was 27.15 percent.

BelTA reported past week that successful an sentiment canvass conducted successful December which interviewed 1,500 people, 85.5 percent of registered voters indicated they would ballot successful the upcoming election.

According to Statistica, a data-gathering platform, astir 84 percent of eligible voters formed their ballot successful the statesmanlike predetermination successful August 2020.

It added that the capital, Minsk, recorded the lowest elector turnout astatine “over 66 per cent”.

However, overseas Belarusians volition lone beryllium capable to instrumentality portion successful the predetermination by returning to the state and casting a ballot astatine a determination polling station.

Who is moving against Lukashenko?

According to the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC), 4 candidates person been registered to tally successful Sunday’s election.

Liberal Democrats president Oleg Gaidukevich announced helium was moving successful the predetermination successful October and told the First News Channel that determination “must beryllium steadfast competition, discussion”.

Sergei Sirankov, archetypal caput of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, volition besides beryllium connected the ballot.

Anna Kanapatskaya, a erstwhile subordinate of parliament who past ran successful the 2020 statesmanlike elections, volition beryllium running, and Alexander Khizhnyak, president of the Republican Labour Party, is the last candidate.

However, Tatsiana Chulitskaya, a Belarusian world astatine Vilnius University successful Lithuania, told the Reuters quality bureau that the 4 candidates had not criticised Lukashenko during their campaign.

“These are not candidates successful the mean meaning of this word. They are conscionable playing successful this campaign. They are not competing with Lukashenko,” she said successful a telephone interview.

What happened successful 2020?

Following the August election, the CEC announced that Lukashenko had been re-elected and had won 80.1 percent of the vote, securing his triumph implicit absorption campaigner Tsikhanouskaya.

However, allegations of elector fraud dispersed similar wildfire aft immoderate argued that counts by polling stations did not adhd up to the authoritative number by the CEC, starring to absorption groups and Western governments accusing Lukashenko of stealing the election.

Due to the predetermination results, mostly peaceful wide protests erupted successful Minsk, calling for Lukashenko to measurement down.

But protesters were met with an aggravated constabulary crackdown and wide arrests, with Belarusian quality rights radical Viasna reporting this week that much than 3,270 people person been convicted of joining the 2020 protests.

Moreover, the radical recovered that determination are much than 1,200 governmental prisoners successful the country. Lukashenko released 23 governmental prisoners past week successful what authorities media referred to arsenic a humanitarian gesture, seemingly timed to coincide with the last days earlier the election.

Has the predetermination received immoderate backlash?

Tsikhanouskaya called connected the West to cull the “illegitimate” predetermination connected X.

She told BBC News that the predetermination is simply a “sham”, adding, “This is simply a military-style operation; a show staged by the authorities to clasp connected to power.”

But Tsikhanouskaya told Belarusians not to protestation arsenic they did successful the past election, saying, “You person to support harmless until the existent infinitesimal of possibility.”

At the aforesaid time, the European Parliament adopted a solution connected Wednesday to cull the predetermination results.

“While reiterating their non-recognition of Mr Lukashenko arsenic President and their presumption that the full Belarusian authorities is illegitimate, MEPs explicit their unwavering enactment for the Belarusian radical successful their pursuit of democracy, state and quality rights,” a connection by the European Parliament read.

Last week, erstwhile US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the elections could not beryllium escaped oregon just successful an “environment wherever censorship is ubiquitous and autarkic media outlets nary longer exist”.

He added that the US condemned the Belarusian government’s attempts to “legitimise” the election.