Presidential Elections Kick Off In Belarus

1/26/2025 5:07:43 AM

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) MOSCOW, Jan 26 (KUNA) -- Belarusian presidential elections began on Sunday with current President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for 30 years, seeking to retain his top position.
The local Central Election Commission (CEC) mentioned that polls opened at 8 a.m. local time and will remain open until 8 p.m.
Four candidates are competing against Lukashenko including Liberal Democrats chairperson Oleg Gaidukevich, Sergei Sirankov, first secretary of the Communist Party's Central Committee, Anna Kanapatskaya, a former member of parliament and Alexander Khizhnyak, chairperson of the Republican Labor Party.
More than half of eligible voters, some 6.9 million, cast their votes in the 5,325 polling stations distributed across the country.
CEC data indicate that participation rate in early elections reached 41.81 percent of total voters.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Observer Mission revealed no violations during the five days of early voting for the presidential election in Belarus, SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev told Russian news agency, RIA Novosti.
Members of the mission started their work back in the early voting period, but cannot make any official statement yet, as they will form it after the voting process is over.
Belarusian presidents are elected for a five-year term with a majority vote system.
Candidates should be Belarusian born, no younger than 40 years old and has been permanently residing in the country for 20 years at least.
Observers and nationals alike are awaiting election results as it sets out to be a test for the state's political system. (end)
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