January 26, Pozirk. Today’s election in Belarus is a mockery of the electoral procedures and the very idea of elections, Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja had told participants in a rally in Warsaw that brought together exiled Belarusians.
Alaksandar Łukašenka, in power since 1994, will remain in history as “a traitor and a criminal, not a guardian of independence, no matter how much he wants that and no matter how many times he re-elects himself,” she stressed.
Earlier today, the politician described the ongoing presidential election in Belarus as a “farce and imitation,” noting that Belarusians risk being thrown behind bars every day for political reasons, such as wearing the wrong color of socks, speaking Belarusian and opposing war.
Łukašenka will not be able to force Belarusians to see him as a leader and accept the official result of the seventh presidential election, she said.
The politician pledged to keep up the struggle for democracy, ensuring accountability for Łukašenka and his officials and protecting the rights of ordinary Belarusians.
Noting the dangerous character of the Belarusian state-sponsored propaganda, Cichanoŭskaja promised to negotiate assistance to independent media outlets with the European Union amid the United States’ freeze on foreign aid.
Belarus is holding its seventh presidential election from January 21 to 26, with the whole election cycle limited to just three months. The current campaign is taking place in a purged political landscape amid a new crackdown on regime critics.
The five presidential bidders are Alaksandar Łukašenka, his supporters Aleh Hajdukievič, Alaksandar Chižniak, Siarhiej Syrankoŭ as well as former MP Hanna Kanapackaja.
The Belarusian opposition dismissed the election as a sham, noting that political reprisals prevent pro-democracy candidates from running and voters from freely expressing their will.
The country has not held a single free and fair election since 1996 by the standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
