The Belarusses began on Sunday to vote for the presidential election, intended to re -elect for a seventh consecutive term Alexandre Loukachenko, in the absence of any tolerated opposition. The assumed autocrat has been in power since 1994.
Since 8:00 am local (6:00 am in Switzerland), voters go to the polls for an unusual ballot, noted an AFP journalist in Minsk. The detractors of Mr. Loukachenko, 70, and the NGOs for the defense of fundamental rights have already qualified this staging election.
With this presidential election, the leader intends to continue his reign, for at least five more years, at the head of this former Soviet republic border of the European Union, Ukraine and Russia.
During his sixth term, Alexandre Loukachenko completely suffocated any dissent after unprecedented demonstrations having targeted him in 2020, approaching since during Moscow, to lend the Russian army its territory to invade Ukraine in 2022 .
The head of European diplomacy Kaja Kalla said on Saturday that Mr. Loukachenko ‘has no legitimacy’. ‘He will rename himself in a new election masquerade. It is an affront to democracy ”, she added on the social network X.
More than 1,200 political prisoners
-MPs from the European Parliament also called not to recognize the results, especially since the previous ballot in 2020 had been followed by the merciless repression of an unprecedented protest movement.
Supported by his Russian ally Vladimir Putin, Mr. Loukachenko, a weakened time, had succeeded in consolidating his power with arrests, violence and long prison terms targeting opponents, journalists, employees of NGOs and simple demonstrators.
According to the United Nations, more than 300,000 blunders, out of a population of nine million, fled their country for political reasons, mainly towards Poland. Human rights organizations believe that the country has more than 1,200 political prisoners held in difficult conditions.
Faced with this repression, the Westerners imposed heavy sanctions on the Bélarus, leading Alexandre Loukachenko to accelerate his rapprochement with the Kremlin, abandoning his balancingist game between Moscow and the West.
/ATS
