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| Belarus Incumbent President Wins Re-election |
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"Alexander Lukashenko has won the election," with 82.6 percent of the vote, Lidia Yermoshina, chairwoman of the commission, told a press conference. His main rival Alexander Milinkevich, who is supported by the opposition, got 6 percent. The other two candidates, Liberal Democratic Party leader Sergei Gaidukevich and Social Democratic Party leader Alexander Kozulin, received 3.5 percent and 2.3 percent respectively. The election commission put the turnout at 92.6 percent in the country, where about 7 million people were eligible to vote. More than 1,200 international observers monitored the vote. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) sent the largest groups of election observers. Both the OSCE and CIS observer missions are expected to announce their assessment of the Belarus vote later in the day. Shortly after polls closed on Sunday night, thousands of opposition supporters gathered at Minsk's main square for a rally. Police stood watching nearby. Earlier, Milinkevich had called for a peaceful gathering after voting ended despite a government ban on election-day rallies. The European Union has asked the Belarussian authorities to ensure a free and fair vote and threatened to adopt "restrictive measures" against individuals responsible for fraudulence. But Lukashenko played down Western pressure on Belarus. "We have to work rather than pay attention to these babblers," he said, quoted by the official BelTA news agency, on the eve of the election. Lukashenko, 51, was first elected in 1994, got the go-ahead to run for a third term through a constitutional referendum in 2004.His current term ends in September. (Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2006) |
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