Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Belarus on 26 January 2025 under the terms of the constitution. The president is directly elected to serve a five-year term.
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Background
editMass protests erupted following the disputed outcome of the 2020 presidential elections in which incumbent Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory. Opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya subsequently claimed to have received between 60 and 70% of the vote and asked the international community to recognise her as the winner of the election.[1][2][3]
On 17 August 2020 Lukashenko stated that the next presidential election could be held earlier than 2025 if a new constitution were to be adopted.[4] Tsikhanouskaya stated that she was ready to lead a transitional government and to hold early elections under international supervision.[5][6] Lukashenko also said that he will resign if a new constitution is adopted.[7]
On 15 August 2024 independent media reported (citing BELPOL, an NGO consisting of ex-police and military personnel) that the government was planning to hold the next presidential election on 23 February 2025.[8] On 23 October 2024, the Central Election Commission of Belarus (CEC) announced that the election would be held on 26 January 2025.[9]
On 6 November 2024 the Viasna Human Rights Centre reported that Belarusian authorities had started a wave of arrests with over a hundred people detained in a week, many linked to online chats, at a time that Belarusian prisons were already overcrowded.[10]
Candidates
editOn 25 February 2024, the day of parliamentary elections, Alexander Lukashenko announced his intention to run for a seventh term in 2025.[11] His candidacy, which was submitted by an initiative group, was accepted by the CEC on 29 October. On the same day, the CEC rejected the candidacies of For Freedom movement leader Yuras Hubarevich, citing "violation of the procedure for submitting documents", and Aliaxandar Drazdou.[12] On 4 November, two more candidates were rejected, Diana Kovaleva and Viktor Kulesh, while three other candidates were allowed to begin collecting signatures to support their candidacies, thereby taking the number of candidates with this status to seven.[13] These include Sergei Syrankov of the Communist Party, Oleg Gaidukevich of the Liberal Democratic Party, and former Interior Ministry spokesperson Olga Chеmоdanova.[14]
Opinion polls
edit| Date | Agency | Viktar Babaryka | Alexander Lukashenko | Pavel Latushko | Valery Tsepkalo | Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya | Syarhey Rumas | Sergei Tikhanovsky | Maria Kalesnikava | Vladimir Makei | Zianon Pazniak | Andrey Dmitriyeu | Anatol Liabedzka | Vladimir Karanik | Maxim Znak | Veranika Tsapkala | Natalya Kochanova | Yury Karayeu | Kirill Rudy | Ivonka Survilla | Mikola Statkevich | Paval Sieviaryniec | Roman Golovchenko | Oleg Gaidukevich | Maksim Bogrecov |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–10 Nov 2021 | Chatham House | 19% | 27% | 4% | 4% | 6% | 3% | 3% | 3% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 30% | 30% | 11% | 8% | 10% | 5% | 8% | 8% | 4% | |||||||||||||||||
| 23 Jul – 3 Aug 2021 | Chatham House | 22% | 27% | 4% | 3% | 6% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 2% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1% | - | - | - | - |
| 33% | 28% | 10% | 8% | 13% | 6% | 7% | 7% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 2% | ||||||||||||||
| 20–30 Apr 2021 | Chatham House | 25% | 23% | 8% | 3% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2% | - | - | - | - |
| 33% | 25% | 14% | 9% | 10% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 4% | ||||||||||||||
| 12 Jan – 8 Feb 2021 | Ecoom | 2.5% | 66.5% | 1.3% | - | 1.5% | 0.4% | - | - | 2.4% | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.4% | - | - | - | - | - | 3.8% | 1.9% | - |
| 14–20 Jan 2021 | Chatham House | 28.8% | 27.4% | 12.1% | 3.7% | 4.0% | 4.3% | 5.8% | 4.2% | 2.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 0.1% | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.1% | - | - | 2.1% | 1.0% | - | - | - |
| 35.3% | 23.9% | 18.3% | 9.6% | 11.2% | 7.3% | 8.6% | 8.2% | 4.4% | 2.4% | 2.1% | 0.6% | 1.3% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 1.3% | 1.1% | 0.1% | 4.2% | 1.4% | 0.4% | |||||
| 13–18 Nov 2020 | Chatham House | 31.7% | 24.2% | 14.2% | 7.0% | 6.2% | 4.4% | 3.3% | 3.2% | 1.7% | 1.4% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | - | - | - | - | - |
| 38.2% | 20.8% | 20.3% | 12.1% | 9.9% | 7.2% | 5.9% | 7.5% | 2.5% | 2.4% | 1.5% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 1.2% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Belarus election: Exiled leader calls weekend of 'peaceful rallies'". BBC News. 14 August 2020. Archived from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ "Belarus opposition candidate declares victory | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News". www3.nhk.or.jp. Archived from the original on 16 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "Тихановская готовится объявить себя победительницей выборов в Беларуси – пресс-секретарь". gordonua.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "Heckled And Jeered, Lukashenka Says New Election Could Be Held After Constitutional Changes". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 17 August 2020. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ Teslova, Elena (17 August 2020). "Belarus: Opposition leader says 'ready to lead country'" (PDF). www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "Łukaszenka może liczyć już tylko na Putina – OKO.press". oko.press. Archived from the original on 16 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "Belarus president plans to leave job under new constitution". ABC News. 27 November 2020. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ "BELPOL заявляет, что президентские выборы проведут 23 февраля 2025 года". Reform News. 15 August 2024. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ "Belarus to Hold Next Presidential Election on Jan. 26". The Moscow Times. 23 October 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ "Belarus cracks down ahead of January election, over 100 people detained". kyivindependent.com. The Kyiv Independent. 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ "Лукашенко ответил на вопрос, пойдет ли на следующие президентские выборы". БЕЛТА (in Russian). 25 February 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ "Belarus commission approves Lukashenko's 7th term bid but rejects opposition candidates". Associated Press. 30 October 2024.
- ^ "ЦИК Белоруссии допустил к сбору подписей семь претендентов в президенты". Коммерсантъ (in Russian). 4 November 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ "Belarus' authoritarian ruler will face only token challengers in presidential vote". Associated Press. 5 November 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.