Belarus’ election reinforces the authoritarian leader’s 30-year rule. Only loyalists could run

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian authorities have announced preliminary results from parliamentary and local elections in which only candidates loyal to the country’s authoritarian leader were allowed to compete. The opposition had called for a boycott. Sunday’s vote further cemented the 30-year rule of President Alexander Lukashenko, who declared his intention to seek another five-year term in a presidential election next year. The balloting was the first in Belarus since a contentious 2020 vote that handed Lukashenko his sixth term in office and triggered an unprecedented wave of mass demonstrations that brought hundreds of thousands into the streets. More than 35,000 people were arrested and thousands were beaten in police custody.