TALLINN: The Belarusian authorities on Monday announced preliminary results of parliamentary and local elections in which only the candidates loyal to the country’s authoritarian leader were allowed to compete and that the opposition called on voters to boycott.
The vote further cemented the 30-year rule of President Alexander Lukashenko, who declared his intention to seek yet another five-year term in a presidential election next year.
The Central Election Commission said that 73 per cent of the country’s 6.9 million eligible voters cast ballots, filling all 110 seats in the national parliament and 12,514 seats in local councils.