The presidential elections in Belarus are scheduled for January 26, 2025.
The Central Election Commission has registered the following candidates for the presidency:
- the illegitimate president Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power in Belarus since 1994;
- the chairman of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice, Alexander Khizhnyak;
- the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus, Oleg Gaydukevich;
- entrepreneur Anna Kanopatskaya;
- the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus, Sergey Syryankov.
Lukashenko is running for a seventh term.
Election campaigning in Belarus is permitted to begin on January 1, 2025.
"Radio Free Europe" notes that the elections in Belarus are taking place "under conditions of a political crisis, massive repression, and are, according to international organizations, neither free nor democratic," as there are no officially registered opposition parties or independent public organizations left in the country.
Earlier, the chairman of the public association "Belarusian Officers' Union," Sergey Bobrikov, and Interior Ministry Colonel Olga Chemodanova refused to participate in the elections. Chemodanova explained her refusal to run for office by claiming that allegedly no one but Lukashenko "can ensure the country's security" and the "progressive development" of the state of Belarus.