Polls open in Belarus with Lukashenko set to extend 30-year rule

MINSK, BELARUS — 

Belarusians began voting Sunday, with President Alexander Lukashenko expected to cruise to triumph unchallenged for a seventh term, prolonging his three-decade authoritarian rule.

Lukashenko, a 70-year-old erstwhile corporate workplace boss, has been successful powerfulness successful reclusive, Moscow-allied Belarus since 1994.

Polls opened astatine 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) successful Minsk's archetypal statesmanlike ballot since Lukashenko suppressed wide protests against his regularisation successful 2020. He has since allowed Moscow to usage Belarusian territory to invade Ukraine successful 2022.

The absorption and the West said Lukashenko rigged the past ballot and the authorities cracked down connected demonstrations, with much than a 1000 radical inactive jailed.

All of Lukashenko's governmental opponents are either successful situation -- immoderate held incommunicado -- oregon successful exile on with tens of thousands of Belarusians who person fled since 2020.

"All our opponents and enemies should understand: bash not hope, we volition ne'er repetition what we had successful 2020," Lukashenko told a stadium successful Minsk during a cautiously choreographed ceremonial Friday.

Belarusians anticipation for 'no war'

Most radical successful Belarus person lone distant memories of beingness successful the landlocked state earlier Lukashenko, who was 39 erstwhile helium won the archetypal nationalist predetermination successful Belarus since it gained independency from the Soviet Union.

Criticism of the strongman is banned successful Belarus. Most radical AFP spoke to successful Minsk and different towns voiced enactment for him but were inactive fearful of giving their surnames.

The different candidates moving against Lukashenko person been picked to springiness the predetermination an aerial of ideology and fewer cognize who they are.

"I volition ballot for Lukashenko due to the fact that things person improved since helium became president [in 1994]," said 42-year-old husbandman Alexei successful the tiny colony of Gubichi successful southeastern Belarus.

He earns astir 300 euros a period selling milk.

But, similar galore successful Belarus, helium is disquieted astir the warfare successful neighboring Ukraine.

In 2022, Russian troops entered Ukraine from respective directions, including from Belarus. The pursuing year, Russia sent tactical atomic weapons to the country, which borders NATO countries.

Alexei said helium wished "for determination not to beryllium a war."

The government's communicative has been to accidental that Lukashenko guaranteed bid and bid successful Belarus, accusing 2020 thoroughfare protestation leaders of sowing chaos.

'Farce'

The United Nations estimates that immoderate 300,000 Belarusians person near the state since 2020 -- mostly to Poland and Lithuania -- retired of a colonisation of 9 million.

They volition not beryllium capable to formed ballots, with Belarus having scrapped voting abroad.

Exiled absorption person Svetlana Tikhanovskaya denounced the ballot arsenic a "farce" successful a January interrogation with AFP.

Her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, has been held incommunicado for astir a year.

She urged dissidents to hole for an accidental to alteration their state but conceded "it was not the moment."

In the run-up to the election, the Lukashenko medication pardoned astir 200 governmental prisoners.

But erstwhile prisoners AFP spoke to accidental those released are nether the adjacent ticker of information services and are incapable to pb a mean life.

Nobel Prize victor Ales Bialiatski is among those successful situation successful Belarus.

Reliant connected Russia

While Lukashenko erstwhile cautiously balanced his relations betwixt the European Union and Moscow, since 2020 helium has go politically and economically reliant connected Russia.

Kaja Kallas, the EU's apical diplomat, called the predetermination a "sham" successful a posting connected X Saturday and said, "Lukashenko doesn't person immoderate legitimacy."

Known arsenic "Europe's past dictator" -- a nickname helium embraces -- Lukashenko's Belarus has retained overmuch of the Soviet Union's traditions and infrastructure.

Unlike successful Russia, the KGB information bureau has kept its haunting sanction and Belarus inactive applies the decease penalty.

The country's system is mostly state-planned and Lukashenko scrapped Belarus's white-red-white emblem successful the 1990s -- which has since go the awesome of the opposition.

Lukashenko prides himself for having kept the country's Soviet-era industries and agriculture enterprises successful authorities hands.

In his code connected Friday, helium spoke astir the "pyatiletka" (Five Year Plan) -- an economical word utilized successful the Soviet Union.