Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for over 30 years, is poised to extend his rule in an election that concludes Sunday and that the opposition dismisses as a

In power since 1994, Alexander Lukashenko is assured of a new five-year term in a vote that the exiled opposition describes as a sham. It has called on Belarusians to tick a box that allows them to reject all the candidates on offer.

Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya says the president was playing his ‘usual game’ of drip-feeding releases for rewards from the West.

Belarus is set for a presidential election on Sunday, with five candidates on the ballot but no real contest. Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, is expected to secure another five-year term, a result the