Belarus Election: Lukashenko vs. Tikhanovskaya, Detentions and Military Hardware in Central Minsk

Lukashenko has been in office since 1994; this is his sixth election.

On Sunday, August 9, Belarus holds a presidential election from 8:00 to 20:00 (matching Kyiv time). 5,723 polling stations are open, and another 44 are outside the country. More than 6.8 million Belarusian citizens are eligible to vote. The election will be recognized as legitimate if turnout exceeds 50%.

Incumbent Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been in power since 1994 (26 years) and is seeking re-election for a sixth time. To win in the first round, he needs 50% of the votes cast. Otherwise, a second round will be held.

There are other candidates: businessmen Sergei Cherechen, former parliament deputy Anna Kanopatskaya, and opposition figure Andrei Dmitriev. The latter, like Tikhanovskaya, supports holding new fair elections with the participation of previously barred candidates: the arrested Sergei Tikhanovsky and Viktor Babariko, as well as who left the country Valery Tsepkalo.

Ratings for Lukashenko and other candidates are unknown due to a 2016 ban on public opinion polls. On the eve of the election, the incumbent president was nicknamed “Sasha 3%” after online polls of public sentiment.

The Belarusian Central Election Commission reported a record turnout of 41% in early voting on August 4-8. By the morning of August 9, about 30 independent observers had been detained. 

Military vehicles are being brought to central Minsk, police have been reinforced across the country, and fences have been set up in October Square in the capital, reports TUT.by.

Lukashenko's main rival left her apartment in Minsk for security reasons on the night before the election, but remains in the capital surrounded by members of her campaign staff and journalists. This was reported by her press secretary Anna Krasulina, according to Meduza.

On Saturday, August 8, for the second time in a week, the head of Tikhanovskaya's campaign headquarters Maria Moroz was detained and taken to the district police department “for participation in administrative proceedings.” Earlier, on Thursday, August 6, Maria Moroz was taken “for a conversation” to the department for combating organized crime and then released.

Also yesterday, August 8, was detained Tikhanovskaya ally Maria Kolesnikova. She was taken to a police station without a reason being given, but was released half an hour later. Officers allegedly confused Kolesnikova with another person.

On Friday, August 7, Ukrainian journalists were detained in Belarus, after which they were deported to Odesa and banned from entering for 10 years. Yesterday, August 8, Strana reported that Ukrainians are being massively denied entry to Belarus on the eve of the election.

On July 30, more than 30,000 people came to a rally in support of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Minsk. Recently, Tikhanovskaya called Belarus a “country of fear” and asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel to influence Lukashenko. After that, the EU called on Belarus to hold fair elections and stop suppressing protests.