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.

President Alexander Lukashenko has won a a seventh term in office in Belarus, according to the country’s Central Election Commission. According to a statement by the Central Election Commission, the 70-year-old leader took nearly 87% per cent of the vote in Sunday’s election after a campaign in which four token challengers all praised his rule.

By Ben Aris in Berlin Incumbent Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko swept to a landslide victory in Sunday’s presidential election taking 86.82% of votes, according to preliminary results said the Central Election Commission Chairman Igor Karpenko at a press conference on January 26.