Election officials in Belarus yesterday said that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has won his sixth consecutive term, taking more than 80 percent of the vote amid protests fueled by frustration with the country’s deteriorating economy, years of political repression and the authoritarian incumbent’s cavalier brushoff of the coronavirus threat.
Human rights groups said one person was killed — which the authorities denied — and dozens were injured in a police crackdown on protests that followed Sunday’s presidential election.
The central election commission said that with all ballots counted, Lukashenko, who has led Belarus for 26 years, took 80.23 percent of the vote and his main opposition challenger, Sveatlana Tikhanovskaya, had 9.9 percent.
Photo: AP
Opposition supporters believe the election results were rigged and planned to gather in Minsk for more protests last night.
“We don’t recognize these results,” Tikhanovskaya, a former English teacher, the wife of a jailed opposition blogger and political novice, told reporters yesterday.
“According to the data we receive from precincts, we won, and this corresponds with what we saw at polling stations,” she said. “People stood in lines at polling stations in order to vote for Tikhanovskaya. I believe my own eyes rather than the data of the central election commission.”
Photo: Reuters
Thousands of people took to the streets in a number of Belarusian cities and towns on Sunday night, protesting the early count suggesting Lukashenko’s landslide victory.
They faced rows of riot police in black uniforms who moved quickly to disperse the demonstrators, firing flash-bang grenades and beating them with truncheons
Lukashenko yesterday described opposition supporters who protested against the vote as “sheep” controlled from abroad.
He said the authorities monitored those who took part in last night’s protests.
“We recorded calls from abroad. There were calls from Poland, Britain and the Czech Republic, they were directing our — forgive me — sheep,” Lukashenko told the head of an election observation delegation from the former Commonwealth of Independent States, Belta state news agency reported.
He vowed he would not allow the country to be “torn apart.”
According to the Viasna human rights group, more than 200 protesters were detained, dozens sustained injuries and one died as the result of the clashes with police.
The Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs yesterday said that no one was killed during the protests.
According to officials, 89 people were injured during the protests, including 39 law enforcement officers, and about 3,000 people were detained.
The Belarus Investigative Committee yesterday opened a criminal probe into mass riots and violence toward police officers.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen yesterday called for Belarus to publish accurate results for its election.
“Fundamental rights in Belarus must be respected,” Von der Leyen tweeted. “I call on the Belarusian authorities to ensure that the votes in yesterday’s election are counted and published accurately.”
Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius told the BNS news agency that “it’s difficult to call this election transparent, democratic and free, regrettably.”
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “the harsh reaction of the law enforcement forces, the use of force against peaceful protesters, and arbitrary arrests are unacceptable.” and called for an emergency EU summit on the situation.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated Lukashenko on his victory.
Additional reporting by AFP
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