MINSK (Reuters) -Belarusian chief Alexander Lukashenko was on observe to increase his 31-year rule with 87.6% of the vote in a presidential election on Sunday, in line with an exit ballot broadcast on state TV, after hurling defiance on the West and defending the jailing of dissidents.
The shut ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has led Belarus since 1994. The U.S. and European Union each stated within the run-up to the election that it could be a sham as a result of impartial media are banned in Belarus and all main opposition figures have been despatched to penal colonies or compelled to flee overseas.
Challenged over the jailing of his opponents, Lukashenko informed journalists that they had been the authors of their very own destiny.
“Some chose prison, some chose ‘exile’, as you say. We didn’t kick anyone out of the country” he informed a marathon press convention lasting greater than 4 hours and 20 minutes.
He stated nobody was prevented from talking out in Belarus, however jail was “for people who opened their mouths too wide, to put it bluntly, those who broke the law”.
The exit ballot was broadcast by state TV quickly after voting closed. Officers stated turnout was 81.5% within the election, wherein 6.9 million individuals had been eligible to vote.
EU international coverage chief Kaja Kallas stated on the eve of the vote that it was a “blatant affront to democracy”.
Exiled opposition chief Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya informed Reuters this week that Lukashenko was engineering his re-election as a part of a “ritual for dictators”. Demonstrations in opposition to him occurred on Sunday in Warsaw and different east European cities.
Lukashenko shrugged off the criticism as meaningless and stated he did not care whether or not the West determined to recognise the election or not.
‘DON’T GIVE A DAMN’
The EU and the US each stated they didn’t acknowledge him because the authentic chief of Belarus after he used his safety forces to crush mass protests after the final election in 2020, when Western governments backed Tsikhanouskaya’s declare that he had rigged the depend and cheated her of victory.
Tens of hundreds of individuals had been arrested in protests in opposition to the official outcome, which gave him simply over 80% of the vote. Human rights group Viasna, which is banned as an “extremist” organisation, says there are nonetheless some 1,250 political prisoners.
Lukashenko has freed greater than 250 prior to now yr on what he known as humanitarian grounds, however he denied this was meant as a sign to the West to attempt to restore relations.
“I don’t give a damn about the West,” he stated, including that Belarus was prepared to speak to the EU however to not “bow before you or crawl on our knees”.
He stated that main dissident Maria Kalesnikava was responsible of “violating the regime” however that she was in sound well being and that he had intervened personally to permit her a go to from her father final yr. Different distinguished prisoners embrace human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, serving a 10-year sentence on smuggling fees that he denies.
“In any state you have to take responsibility if you break the law. The law is severe, but it’s the law,” Lukashenko stated.
PUTIN ALLY
Lukashenko, who took his small canine with him to forged his vote at a polling station within the capital, confronted no severe problem from the 4 different candidates on the poll paper. He stated in the course of the marketing campaign that he was too busy to maintain observe of it.
However whereas the end result was by no means unsure, he faces tough decisions in his subsequent time period as he navigates relations with Russia and the West – the fixed theme of his lengthy rule – in opposition to the background of potential talks to finish the battle in Ukraine.
The conflict has certain him extra tightly than ever to Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Lukashenko providing his nation as a launchpad for the 2022 invasion and later agreeing to let Moscow place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
If it ends, political analysts say he’s more likely to search to revive his legitimacy with the West with the intention to ease his isolation and search the lifting of sanctions.
Lukashenko stated he noticed “light at the end of the tunnel” within the conflict, as Moscow and Kyiv put together for potential talks wherein he stated they must thrash out a compromise.
Requested if this is able to be his final election, the 70-year-old ex-Soviet farm boss declined to offer a direct reply. He stated he was “not about to die”, and had no particular successor in thoughts.
“When the time comes, we will think about this,” he stated.
