Alexander Lukashenko has secured a seventh consecutive term as president of Belarus, Al Jazeera reports, citing the country’s Central Election Commission.
The announcement, made via the commission’s Telegram channel on Monday, stated that Lukashenko garnered 86.8 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election.
“You can congratulate the Republic of Belarus, we have elected a president,”Commission head Igor Karpenko said at a press conference.
The electoral body reported a turnout of 85.7 percent, with some 6.9 million eligible voters participating.
Lukashenko, who has led Belarus since 1994, faced four opponents on the ballot, all of whom were perceived as loyal to him and supportive of his long rule.
The election results immediately drew criticism from international observers, with many denouncing the process as neither free nor fair. Critics point to the government’s suppression of independent media, the jailing of prominent opposition figures, and the forced exile of others as evidence of a severely compromised electoral landscape.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Lukashenko, stating that the election demonstrated his “undoubted” popular support. Putin’s message, released by the Kremlin, emphasized the “high political authority” of the Belarusian leader and reiterated his invitation for Lukashenko to visit Moscow.
The relationship between Lukashenko and Putin has deepened since the war in Ukraine began, with Russian tactical nuclear weapons now deployed in Belarus. Chinese President Xi Jinping also sent a congratulatory message to Lukashenko, according to state media in Beijing.
