(ANSA-AFP) - MINSK, 04 AGO - Early voting began in Belarus on
Tuesday ahead of a presidential election in which strongman
leader Alexander Lukashenko will seek a sixth term after barring
his main rivals from running. The 65-year-old has ruled over the
ex-Soviet country wedged between Russia and Europe with an
authoritarian grip for 26 years and has cracked down on the
country's emboldened opposition in the lead-up to Sunday's
election. His leading rival, 37-year-old Svetlana Tikhanovskaya,
is running in place of her jailed husband and has drawn massive
crowds at rallies across the country in an unprecedented display
of frustration with Lukashenko's rule. The central elections
commission on Tuesday said that the country's almost seven
million eligible voters could cast ballots at 5,767 polling
stations set up in public spaces including medical facilities
and army barracks and at 44 polling stations abroad. Independent
observers claim the authorities put pressure on public-sector
employees to vote for Lukashenko-friendly candidates during the
early voting period and carry out widespread falsifications
before the main election day. Tikhanovskaya has called on her
supporters to vote on Sunday, the last day of polling, to avoid
manipulation before the count and to wear a white bracelet so
independent monitors can easily identify them. The Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which carries out
international election and war monitoring, has not recognised
any elections in Belarus as free and fair since 1995.
(ANSA-AFP).
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