Polls open in Belarus presidential election with chance of change at the top slim

euronews (in English)

Voting started following a period of almost non-existent election fever. In the capital Minsk, there’s an almost total absence of billboards promoting the candidates and there has been little in the way of campaigning.

Transcript

00:00Polls have opened in Belarus in a presidential election, which is all but certain to see

00:06Alexander Lukashenko win a seventh term in office.

00:11Voting got underway following a period of almost non-existent election fever.

00:16In the capital Minsk, there was an almost total absence of billboards promoting the

00:20candidates and there's been little in the way of campaigning.

00:24Seventy-year-old Lukashenko, frequently dubbed Europe's last dictator, has ruled Belarus

00:29with an iron fist since 1994.

00:33In the last election in 2020, he was declared winner with 80% of the vote.

00:39That triggered accusations of voter fraud, months of protests and a harsh crackdown leading

00:44to 65,000 arrests.

00:48Opposition figures were jailed or forced to flee.

00:51This time, the country's 7 million registered voters can choose between five candidates,

00:56and only one of whom is regarded as critical of Lukashenko's rule.

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