“He has his own opinion and he does not bend to anyone’s will, he protects the interests of his people”, said retired university teacher Valentina Artyomovna as she bought pastries from her polling station’s buffet, part of the authorities’ attempt to create a “holiday atmosphere” for election day.
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The authoritarian leader faced no serious competition in the election, which was boycotted by the opposition.
Alexievich, an outspoken critic of the strongman president, said Lukashenka did congratulate her on the Nobel Prize after she won on October 8. Turnout was well over 80%, including a staggering 30% who supposedly voted early.
7 million voters across Belarus are participating in the country’s fifth presidential election since it gained independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991.
“For the first time, no real opposition candidate challenges the incumbent, so the official voting results are easy to predict”, Imke Hansen, an associate professor at Sweden’s Uppsala University specializing in eastern European history, said in an interview in Minsk. Global observers also raised concerns. Lukashenko barely campaigned; the government plastered the country with posters that simply read “Elections of the President of Belarus”, leaving no doubt as to whom they had in mind. “I voted because it is the duty of every citizen…” “They will have to listen to me”, she said.
Nikolai accompanied his father and the official Belarus delegation to New York last month, and also escorted Lukashenko to the polling station Sunday, dressed in an identical suit and tie to his father. “Therefore for me it is very important: If Lukashenko wins, that I retain what was there in the past election”.
Flanked by his ever-present 11-year-old son Nikolai, Alexander Lukashenko, Europe’s “last dictator” was in confident mood on Sunday. Many oppositional figures have critcized the move, seeing it as a sign the elections are rigged.
In his 21 years of rule, Mr Lukashenko has cracked down on dissent while cultivating an image of a strong leader capable of guaranteeing order and stability.
For two decades he has played off Russian Federation, Belarus’s closest ally, against western states that want to ease the country from the Kremlin’s grip, in a balancing act that has only become harder since conflict struck neighbouring Ukraine. The unreformed economy may be spluttering, but it still puts bread on the tables of pensioners and workers at unprofitable state factories. “I see no reason to change leaders now”.
Svetlana Alexievich, Ukraine-born Belarusian author: “It doesn’t matter to Lukashenko how we vote”.
Late Thursday, Lukashenko issued a brief statement of congratulation to Alexievich, saying “I am truly happy for your success”.
“We have carried out everything the West wanted on the eve of the elections…”
Lukashenko has been in power since 1994, making him the longest-standing leader in all of Europe.
The European Union will reportedlylift its sanctions on Belarus, including those on Lukashenko, for four months after Sunday’s vote, barring any last-minute crackdown.
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Marina, a 21-year-old student said she based her choice on the candidates’ debate on television, which Lukashenko skipped.
