Belarusian leader and Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule on Monday after electoral officials declared him the winner of a presidential election that Western governments rejected as a sham.

Belarusian leader and Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule on Monday after electoral officials declared him the winner of a presidential election that Western governments rejected as a sham.

Lukashenko faced no serious challenge from the four other candidates on the ballot. While the outcome was never in doubt, he faces difficult choices in his next term as he navigat

As Belarusians voted, Lukashenko sparred with the world's media at a press conference lasting more than four hours and 20 minutes. Asked how the election could be free and fair, given that all the main opposition figures are in jail or have fled the country,

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko declared himself president for his seventh consecutive term in an election on Jan. 26 internationally deemed as neither free nor fair. The Belarusian Election Commission claimed that Lukashenko "won" 86.

"Alexander Lukashenko received 86.82% of the votes in the Belarusian elections, according to CEC chairman Igor Karpenko," the report said. Read also: Belarus holds election as Ukraine and EU reject legitimacy of results BELTA also released preliminary results for other candidates and the “against all” option: ・Oleg Gaydukevich – 2.

In Belarus, another round of rigged elections took place on Sunday. On that day, Alexander Lukashenko held a press conference lasting over four hours. A BBC correspondent asked a question that the dictator did not expect.