With this presidential election, Mr. Loukachenko, 70, intends to offer a seventh consecutive term, for five years, at the head of this former Soviet republic border of the European Union, Ukraine and Russia.
His detractors and human rights NGOs have already qualified this staging election. MEPs from the European Parliament have 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.
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 X.
In the small village of Goubitchi, in the south-east of Belarus, Alexei, 42, did not hide his intentions on Friday: “I will vote for Loukachenko, because since he became president (in 1994, editor’s note), Things have improved ”. This 42 -year -old farmer works on a farm, like the Belarusian leader in the past, and says he earns an average of around 300 euros per month by selling milk. For the future, “I would like my children to be able to receive a good education,” he adds, and “that there is no war”.
Election “simulacrum”
In an interview in early January, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, an opposition leader in exile and candidate against Mr. Loukachenko in 2020, had denounced an election “simulacrum” in a climate of terror.
The leader, in his usual martial style, warned his opponents on Friday on national television: “We will never repeat what happened in 2020! “, When his power had vacillated, when tens of thousands of Belarusians denounced a rigged presidential election in the street.
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 UN, more than 300,000 Belarusses, out of a population of nine million, fled their country for political reasons, mainly towards Poland.
-To punish this repression, Westerners have imposed heavy Belarus sanctions, leading Alexandre Loukachenko to accelerate his rapprochement with the Kremlin, abandoning his balancing play between Moscow and the West.
Illustration of this alliance, the Belarusian territory served as the rear base for the forces of Vladimir Putin in February 2022 to invade Ukraine. And Moscow deployed tactical nuclear weapons in the summer of 2023, a threat to kyiv but also NATO members bordering Belarus (Lithuania, Latvia, Poland).
Ghost candidates
Mr. Loukachenko, a colorful character who likes to appear in uniform, driving a tractor or a weapon in hand, posed in rampart against the chaos of war in Ukraine, assuring that his country ” Don’t want to fight ”.
This imposing build must also like to tour factories. This former collective farm director, also known for his assumed macho style, welcomes herself to have maintained a dearrier economy, the majority of the agricultural industries and farms remaining controlled by the State.
During a recent visit, he declared that he had no interest in participating in electoral debates: “It’s not time to debate,” he said, while four component candidates by the power will be able to participate, entirely reduced in a role of sticker.
Human rights organizations believe that the country has more than 1,000 political prisoners held in difficult conditions, often deprived of access to lawyers or contact with their loved ones.
