Alexander Lukashenko wins another term, election commission says

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has won a sixth term as president with 80% of the vote, according to preliminary results cited by the Central Election Commission Monday.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a 37-year-old former English teacher who emerged as Lukashenko’s chief opponent, won 9.9% of the vote, the election commission reported. The other three candidates received less than 2% of the vote. Turnout for the election was put at 84%.

At a news conference Monday, Tikhanovskaya rejected the results. “The authorities should think about how to peacefully hand over power to us,” she said. “I consider myself the winner of this election.”