Belarus is facing mounting criticism over the presidential elections scheduled for January 26 that will strengthen incumbent authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s grip of power. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Wednesday, condemning the upcoming election as “sham”, while denouncing Alyaksandr Lukashenka as a dictator.
Approved by EU lawmakers with 567 votes in favor, 25 against, the resolution urges EU members states and international community not to recognize the legitimacy of incumbent “dictator” Lukahsneko (70) who has ruled Belarus “ruthlessly” since 1994. They citied “the lack of freedom, fairness, and transparency ahead of the presidential elections” as the reasons for rejecting the results of the weekend’s balloting.
The lawmakers stressed that the weekend’s voting is the first voting since 2020 presidential election that triggered mass unrests and were deemed rigged by Western governments.
The resolution reiterated “its non-recognition of the [2020] election of Alyaksandr Lukashenka to the post of President of Belarus; considers the current regime in Belarus to be illegitimate, illegal and criminal; reaffirms its unwavering support for the Belarusian people in their pursuit of democracy, freedom and human rights."
Election as “military-style operation”
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya also condemned as “sham” the upcoming presidential election, which she described as “a military-style operation; a performance staged by the regime to hold on to power."
"We call on Belarusians to reject this sham and on the international community to reject the result… But I say to Belarusians, you have to keep safe until the real moment of possibility,” the opposition leader told the BBC.
Tikhanovskaya explained that "because people live in constant fear, and the regime is now intensifying the repression." She was running against Lukashenko in the presidential election in 2020 and was forced into exile during large-scale protests following Lukashenko’s victory with 80 percent of votes. Western countries have described the 2020 election as rigged and refused to recognize the legitimacy of Lukashenko as a Belarusian president. Lukashenko is backed by Vladimir Putin has supported Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine.
