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January 27, 2025 | 08:21 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko extended his term in office on Monday, January 27, 2025, after the Belarusian election commission declared him the winner of the presidential election. The decision was condemned by Western countries, calling it an embarrassment. Lukashenko has been in power in Belarus for 31 years.
“You can congratulate the Republic of Belarus because we have elected a president,” Igor Karpenko, head of the Belarusian election commission, said on Monday morning, January 27, 2025.
Lukashenko, who faced almost no opposition from four other presidential candidates in the presidential election, won 86.8 percent of the vote, according to the results published by the Belarusian election commission on its official Telegram account. A total of 6.9 million Belarusians were eligible to vote. European politicians said the fairness of the election was questionable because independent media are banned from operating in Belarus and all influential opposition figures have been jailed or forced into exile abroad. Belarus is a former Soviet republic.
“Belarusians have no choice. "This is a bitter day for all those who yearn for freedom and democracy," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.
Asked about the jailed opposition leaders, Lukashenko said on Sunday that they had the right to decide their own fate. "Some chose prison, some chose exile. We are not expelling anyone from the country," Lukashenko said.
Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has allowed his country to be used by Russia as a staging ground for sending Russian troops to the Ukraine war that erupted in 2022. Lukashenko has defended his actions from critics, saying "I don't care about the West."
This week, exiled Belarusian opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told Reuters Lukashenko had manipulated the presidential election so he could be re-elected. Demonstrations against the decision of the Belarusian Election Commission and rejecting the dictatorial Lukashenko government took place in Warsaw and other cities in Europe on Sunday, January 26, 2025.
Source: Reuters
Editor's Choice: US Citizens Advised Not to Travel to Belarus
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