The polling stations in Belarus have closed for voting during the so-called "elections" for president. Initial exit poll data indicate that Alexander Lukashenko has received 87.6% of the votes, as reported by BelTA.
None of the four other "candidates" participating in the "elections" garnered more than three percent of the votes. The European Union has labeled the presidential elections in Belarus as "fictitious and neither free nor fair."
The Belarusian opposition also does not recognize the results of the "voting." This was stated by Belarusian public figure and advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Franak Viachorka, during a national telethon "United News."
"In Belarus, a special electoral operation (SVO) is underway, which has nothing to do with actual elections. It is crucial for Lukashenko to reappoint himself; he fears protests like those in 2020. Therefore, he conducted this campaign with maximum restraint — without observers, without opposition candidates, and with a significant presence of his representatives in all cities and at all polling stations.
He has fabricated for himself 90 or however many percent, but the world knows — he is a dictator, he is a criminal. He must be held accountable along with others. His place is in The Hague, not in the presidential palace…
"These individuals (the other presidential candidates in Belarus — ed.) are a fan club for Lukashenko, appointed by his administration. They are there solely to legitimize the process itself. And they appear even worse than Lukashenko himself.
He did not actually allow any independent candidates. Therefore, it is all quite sad — candidates who play the role of mere statists. There should be no illusions — there is no competition, and nothing about these elections is genuine," Franak Viachorka stated.