Polls open in Belarus with Lukashenko’s 30-year rule set to be extended
GuardianJan 27
Belarus Election: Lukashenko Wins 7th Term
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Above: Belarusian Pres. Alexander Lukashenko casts his ballot at a polling station in Minsk, Belarus on Jan. 26, 2025. Image copyright: Belarusian Presidency/Handout/Contributor/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Facts
Pres. Alexander Lukashenko won the Belarusian national election with 86.82% of the vote, the country's Central Election Commission declared on Monday. The 70-year-old former collective farm boss won a seventh five-year term, and the final results will be formally announced by Feb. 5.
Four others — Sergei Syrankov, Oleg Gaidukevich, Anna Kanopatskaya and Alexander Khizhnyak — won 3.21%, 2.02%, 1.86%, and 1.74%, respectively, of the votes polled.
The 2025 election marks the first presidential vote since 2020, which saw mass protests alleging election fraud. Following a government crackdown, more than 1K people reportedly remain imprisoned in Belarus, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.
The Spin
Narrative A
Belarus maintains a tough democracy that doesn't silence anyone, with Lukashenko guaranteeing peace and order in the country while preventing the chaos that protest leaders attempted to sow in 2020. The government has successfully preserved stability and improved living conditions since Lukashenko first took office, maintaining crucial economic and political ties with Russia and furthering regional stability.
Narrative B
The election represents a complete farce lacking any democratic legitimacy, conducted amid unprecedented repression of human rights and restrictions on political participation. The regime has imprisoned or forced into exile all genuine opposition figures while allowing only hand-picked candidates to create an illusion of competition.
Narrative C
Many Belarusians viewed the 2025 national election in a state of apathy, shaped by fears of instability and the suffocating inevitability of Lukashenko's victory. While Western critics denounce the process as undemocratic and regime loyalists champion it as essential, most Belarusians' focus is to preserve safety and stability in their everyday lives.
