Exile Tikhanovskaya calls for a boycott of the elections in Belarus Congratulations, WhatsApp! For your birthday, here are the most important facts about the app

Presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who was driven into exile by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, has called for a boycott of the country’s parliamentary and local elections. “I call on Belarusians and the international community to categorically reject this hoax,” she wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter) on Sunday. In addition to the 110 MPs, around 12,000 representatives of local parliaments will be re-elected in Sunday’s vote.

In her video speech, delivered in English, Tikhanovskaya sharply criticized the vote. The so-called election campaign does not in any way comply with democratic principles. Opposition parties and independent media were silenced. Opposition candidates are not allowed to participate in the elections. “Many are being held as political prisoners.” In addition, half a million voters were expelled from the country and thus deprived of their right to vote, Tikhanovskaya added. She asked the international community not to recognize the vote as legitimate.

Lukashenko wants to demonstrate power

The elections in Belarus are considered unfree and manipulated. According to official information, 41.71 percent of voters in Belarus had cast their votes before polling stations opened in the morning. Early voting – this time five days before the actual election day – has for years been a popular tool of long-time ruler Lukashenko’s power apparatus to achieve desired results without any means of verification. The opposition internet platform ‘Serkalo’ reported on Friday how students and employees in the public sector and state-owned companies were forced to throw their ballots in the ballot box early and under the control of superiors.

According to observers, his main goal is to show that he is in full control after the protests three and a half years ago. Lukashenko was correspondingly confident. When voting in the morning, the head of state announced that he would run again for the next presidential elections in 2025. Lukashenko has ruled Belarus in an authoritarian manner since 1994. The 2020 elections, when he was declared the winner, were followed by months of demonstrations in the country. The opposition declared Tikhanovskaya the actual winner of the election, but Lukashenko had the protests suppressed in blood. The EU did not recognize Lukashenko’s election victory. (sda/dpa)