Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced on Sunday the 25th of February his intention to run again for the presidency in 2025 after voting in parliamentary and municipal elections that the US has called a sham, with the Belarusian top election official rejecting the US accusations, citing the state news agency BelTA, reports Reuters.
President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, confirmed his candidacy: “Tell them (the exiled opposition) that I will run”, pointing out that
no responsible president abandons a nation that has followed him into battle.
Lukashenko acknowledged that much could change in the year leading up to the presidential elections, expressing his readiness to respond to the changes in society and the changing situation.
The US State Department strongly criticised the parliamentary and council elections held on Sunday and its spokesman Matthew Miller stressed that the elections were held in a climate of fear, making them undemocratic.
Igor Karpenko, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Belarus, responded to the US criticism saying that it was not for the US to comment on the Belarusian elections.
“We do not condemn their elections. We are not making any statements, even if they had many obvious problems in their elections”, Karpenko was quoted as saying, pointing out that Belarus can effectively hold its own elections without any external interference.
Election commission officials said that by mid-evening turnout was just below 73%.
His contested re-election to a sixth term in 2020 sparked widespread protests, with police rounding up and detaining protesters.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told reporters on Sunday that the role of parliament would be strengthened. Lukashenko stressed that people are beginning to understand that the president is not a “tsar or a god”, but that his job comes with challenges.
“The role of parliament will be expanded, every month, every year,” he was quoted as saying.
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