Belarus announces date for Lukashenko’s next election victory – POLITICO

The next presidential election in Belarus will take place on January 26, 2025, the country’s Central Election Commission announced on Wednesday.

Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator who has ruled the country since 1994 and is a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, previously said he would run again – and is not expected to lose.

Belarusians took part in parliamentary elections this year in which all four parties on the ballot supported the Lukashenko regime after the ruler dissolved all other parties following fraudulent presidential elections in 2020 that drew condemnation across Europe and the West.

The 2020 vote sparked mass protests that nearly led to Lukashenko’s downfall – albeit with a brutal campaign to repress protesters and opponents backed by Putin.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya – who stood against Lukashenko in the 2020 election after her husband, a leading opposition candidate, was arrested and jailed during the campaign and then jailed for 18 years by authorities in Minsk – is the main face of the exiled pro-democracy opposition.

“Lukashenka has announced the date of his ‘re-election’ – January 26th. It is a sham election without a real electoral process, carried out in an atmosphere of terror. No substitute candidates or observers are permitted. We call on Belarusians and the international community to reject this farce,” Tikhanovskaya said.

In January, Lukashenko signed a law guaranteeing him immunity, lifelong protection and state ownership after he resigns from the presidency.