A preordained victory

last updated 8 January 2015

Minsk, Belarus

Belarus’ strongman, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, claimed victory this week in a referendum that amended the constitution to allow him to run for an unlimited number of terms. International observers from Europe said that the referendum was rigged and that parliamentary elections held at the same time were also unfair. Not a single opposition candidate won any of the parliament’s 110 seats. Election observers said they witnessed ballot-box stuffing and irregular counting, including one instance where the poll tallier ignored the ballots altogether and made a phone call to ask what number to put on his official results form. Observers from Belarus’ fellow former Soviet states, however, pronounced the election “free and fair.”