Belarus: Alexander Lukashenko confirmed winner of the presidential election

Belarus: a person injured during the demonstrations of Sunday, August 9 in Minsk after the clashes that erupted between the police and the opposition during the announcement of the presidential results. A wounded man receives assistance during clashes with opposition

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The Belarusian state agency confirmed this Monday morning the victory announced on Sunday evening for Alexander Lukashenko in the presidential election, with more than 80% of the vote in the first round of the presidential election. The opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, she obtained 9.9% of the vote.

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The Belarusian president, in power since 1994, is largely re-elected, according to these still preliminary but official figures given by the Central Electoral Commission: 80.2% for Alexander Lukashenko, 9.9% for his opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, reports our envoy. special in Minsk, Daniel Vallot .

A result hailed by Moscow. Vladimir Putin sent a "  congratulatory telegram  " to his counterpart according to the Kremlin, adding "  I count on the fact that your action as head of state will allow the future development of mutually beneficial Russian-Belarusian relations  ". Rapid reaction also on the part of Warsaw which calls for an extraordinary summit of the European Union on the situation in Belarus where "  the authorities have used force against their citizens demanding a change in the country  ". “  We must support the Belarusian people in their quest for freedom,  ” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a statement.

According to the human rights NGO Viasna, several injured and at least one dead; a protester hit by a police van. There are also a very large number of arrests (at least a hundred people detained) during the Sunday rallies after the announcement of the first results. Results which absolutely do not reflect reality in the eyes of the Belarusian opposition, which expected massive fraud during the vote count. It is true that it is difficult to believe these figures below 10% for the opposition, given the immense enthusiasm generated in recent weeks by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's campaign in the country.

The opposition, which does not believe these results, had, moreover, set up a parallel counting system, asking its voters to take pictures of their ballots at the time of the vote, but this strategy could not work. correctly, due to the shutdown of the Internet and mobile networks, all day yesterday.

Also to listen:  Presidential in Belarus: "In the absence of any control, the figures are manipulable"

Despite everything, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is optimistic. We have already won, she said yesterday, because we have conquered our fear.

To read also : In Belarus, clashes erupt in Minsk after the announcement of Lukashenko's re-election

The question now is whether the opposition parties will keep the pressure on the streets. We can expect new demonstrations from the start of the evening, this Monday, in a still very tense security context and with an Internet network which remains cut again this morning, which makes it difficult to coordinate actions within the 'opposition.

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  • Belarus
  • Alexander Lukashenko