“There is no alternative to Alexander Lukashenko”

There are times in history when countries are gripped by election fever.

January 2025 in Belarus is not one of them.

Drive around Minsk and you won’t see large billboards promoting candidate portraits.

There is a small campaign.

The gray skies and rain of a Belarusian winter add to the prevailing sense of inactivity.

And inevitability.

The result of the 2025 presidential election. is not in doubt. Alexander Lukashenko, once dubbed “Europe’s Last Dictator”, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for more than 30 years, will be declared the winner and secure a seventh term in office.

Its supporters call it an exercise in “Belarusian democracy”. His opponents dismiss the process as a “farce”.

Even Mr. Lukashenko himself claims that he has no interest in the process.

“I don’t follow the election campaign. I don’t have time,” the Belarusian leader told workers at the Minsk car plant this week.

The workers presented him with a gift: an ax for chopping wood.

“I will try it before the election,” Mr. Lukashenko promised, to thunderous applause.

Four and a half years ago, in a different enterprise, the leader of Belarus received a much cooler reception.

One week after the 2020 presidential election. Alexander Lukashenko visited the Minsk Wheels tractor factory. Leaked video showed him being jeered and jumped by workers. They shouted “” Go! Go! “.

In 2020 the official election result – of 80% for Mr Lukashenko – sparked anger and massive protests across the country. Belarusians took to the streets to accuse their leader of stealing their votes and elections.

In the brutal police crackdown that followed, thousands of anti-government protesters and critics were arrested. Eventually, a wave of crackdowns quelled the protests and, with Russia’s help, Mr. Lukashenko clung to power.

The United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States refuse to recognize him as the legitimate president of Belarus.

Alexander Lukashenko’s staunchest opponents (and potential rivals) are either in prison or have been forced into exile.

That is why this week the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the EU to reject the upcoming presidential elections as a “shame” and pointed out that the election campaign is taking place “in an environment of severe repression that does not fulfill even and even and even for even The Minimum Standards for democratic elections”.

I remember Interview of Alexander Lukashenko last Octoberon the day when the date of the presidential election was announced.

“How can these elections be free and democratic if the opposition leaders are in jail or abroad?” – I asked.

“Do you actually know who the leaders of the opposition are?” Mr. Lukashenko shot back.

“An opposition is a group of people who are supposed to serve the interests of at least a small number of people in the country. Where are these leaders you speak of? Wake up!”

Alexander Lukashenko is not the only candidate. There are four others. But they look more like spoilers than serious contenders.

I drive four hours from Minsk to meet one of them. Sergey Sirankov is the leader of the Communist Party of Belarus. In the city of Vitebsk, I sat in on one of his campaigns. In a large hall, Mr. Sirankov addresses a small audience surrounded by his party’s emblem, hammer and sickle.

His campaign slogan is unusual to say the least: “Not instead of, but together with Lukashenko!”

He is a presidential candidate who openly supports his opponent.

“There is no alternative to Alexander Lukashenko as the leader of our country,” Mr. Sirankov tells me. “So we are participating in the election with the president’s team.”

“Why do you think there is no alternative?” I ask.

“Because Lukashenko is a man of the people, a man of the soil, who has done everything to make sure we don’t have the kind of chaos they have in Ukraine.”

“You’re running for power yourself, but you’re supporting another candidate. That’s … unusual,” I suggest.

“I’m sure that Alexander Lukashenko will win a landslide victory. But even if he wins, and I don’t, the communists will be the winners,” answers Mr. Sirankov.

“The main communist in our country is our head of state. Lukashenko still has his old membership card from the days of the Soviet Communist Party.”

Oleg Gaiduvich, leader of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus, is also on the ballot. He also does not work to win.

“If anyone dares to suggest that the result of the election is not known, he is a liar,” Mr. Gajduvič tells me.

“It is obvious that Lukashenko will win. He has a massive rating … we will fight to strengthen our positions and prepare for the next elections.”

Mr Lukashenko’s critics reject the claim that his popularity is “massive”. But there is no doubt that he has support.

On the edge of ViteBsk is the small town of Oktyabrskaya. In talking to people there, I find concern that a change in leadership could cause instability.

“I want a stable salary, stability in the country,” welder Sergey tells me. “Other candidates make promises but may not keep them. I want to keep what I have.”

“The situation today is very tense,” says Zenaida. “Maybe there are other people worthy of power. But by the time a younger leader gets under the desk, he’s making these important connections with other countries and with his own people that will take a long time.

“God forbid we end up like Ukraine.”

In Belarus today there is fear of instability, fear of the unknown and fear of the government. Everyone works in favor of Alexander Lukashenko.