Belarus will not open polling stations abroad for voting in the presidential elections, which will be held in the country on January 26 of this year. Allegedly, this is because there will not be "proper security measures" there, which were previously rumored.
This was stated at a press conference by the Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Republic of Belarus Ihor Karpenko, BelTA reports.
He also justified such legislative changes by the fact that the number of diplomatic corps employees abroad had decreased.
Karpenko hopes that other states will not prevent Belarusian citizens from crossing the border to exercise their voting rights.
According to him, conditions have been created in Belarus that will allow Belarusians permanently residing abroad to vote. These include 6 polling stations in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, and in five regional centers.
Earlier, the Central Election Commission of Belarus published a list of candidates for the presidential election, including the current self-proclaimed president of the country Alexander Lukashenko.
The election results will be known by February 5. If necessary, a second round will be held on February 12.
After 1996, elections and referendums in Belarus were not recognized by the international community. Lukashenko may be re-elected as president for a seventh term.
According to CEC, Lukashenkoʼs candidacy was supported by 2,518,145 citizens, the head of the Liberal Democratic Party Oleh Haidukevych — 134 472, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Serhiy Syrankov — 125 577, an individual — businesswoman Anna Kanapatska — 121 077, the head of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice Oleksandr Khyzhnyak — 112 779.
In this yearʼs presidential election, Belarus refused to allow the OSCE observers — a violation of the countryʼs obligations.
Presidential elections in Belarus in 2020
In August 2020, presidential elections were held in Belarus. According to official data, self-proclaimed President Alexander Lukashenko won by a large margin. However, data from observers and the opposition say that oppositionist Svitlana Tikhanovskaya won.
After that, Belarusians called for new elections and took to the streets in large-scale protests. The protests were brutally suppressed by security forces, with the opposition reporting at least eight deaths. Thousands of protesters and opposition figures were convicted, and independent media and human rights activists were also repressed.
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