Lukashenko also wants to remain in power forever in Belarus

The Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, has announced this Sunday that he will run for president again in 2025. He recently accused the West of trying to use “new tricks to destabilize society” after the February 25 vote..

“Tell them [the exiled opposition] that I will run,” Lukashenko defiantly told journalists at a polling station after voting in the parliamentary and local elections, where his candidates are running without major rivals..

Only those who follow Lukashenko's political dictate have been allowed to attend.. Most of the candidates they have allowed to run belong to the four officially registered parties that support Lukashenko's policies: Bélaya Rus, the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Labor and Justice Party.. A fan of 'decorative' matches modeled on the one that works in Russia.

This is the first election in Belarus since the controversial 2020 presidential vote, which gave Lukashenko his sixth term in office and sparked an unprecedented wave of mass protests.. Populist and authoritarian, at 69 years old he has been governing Belarus since 1994 and is one of Vladimir Putin's closest allies.

Key piece for the invasion of Ukraine

In fact, it has been a key player in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.. Lukashenko backed what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in February 2022 by allowing Moscow to use its territory to launch war. He also agreed last year to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons in his country, right on Russia's western border.. Lukashenko has relied on Russian subsidies and political support to survive the protests.

The elections have been carried out amid a harsh repression against dissent. Nearly 1,500 political prisoners remain behind bars, including opposition party leaders and renowned human rights defender and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.

Lukashenko has asked law enforcement agencies to organize small arms patrols on city streets to ensure security. The crime rate in Belarus was declining, but Lukashenko believes the country is at risk of committing crimes of an “extremist nature”. That is why we must “repress the actions of bullies and prevent the loss of people”.

The Belarusian leader carried out a new crackdown on dissent after suppressing unprecedented demonstrations against what his opponents claim was a rigged re-election.

Over the last year Lukashenko has tightened his regime. Last week he claimed that several “saboteurs”, including Ukrainian and Belarusian citizens, had been detained at the border in an “anti-terrorist operation” and that similar groups are detained “two or three times a week”.

In January, Belarusian authorities launched an investigation into a group of 20 independent analysts and commentators now outside the country and accused of plotting to seize power and promote extremism..

The Viasna human rights center reported last week that Ihar Lednik, one of the leaders of the opposition Social Democratic Party, had died in prison at the age of 64.. Lednik, who was serving a three-year sentence after being convicted of defaming Lukashenko, died of cardiac arrest following an operation in prison.