Lukashenko Wins Fifth Consecutive Term as President of Belarus

Alexander Lukashenko won a fifth consecutive term as president of Belarus in the elections held on Sunday.

The 61-year-old incumbent president, who has held the position since 1994, garnered 83.49 % of the votes, TASS news agency informs.

Lukashenko, who has been re-elected on three other occasions in 2001, 2006 and 2010, will serve for another five-year term until 2020.

Across the country, a total of 6.4 % of eligible voters cast their ballot against all four candidates, while the corresponding figure in the capital Minsk stood at 20.6 %.

According to the preliminary results published by the Central Election Commission, the voter turnout was 87.2 %.

None of the other three candidates running for president managed to garner more than 5 % of the votes.

The official results of the elections will be published not later than ten days after the end of the vote.

Once the official results are approved, the government will resign and after accepting its resignation, the president will appoint a new cabinet.