President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko leads with 79.67% of the
votes after counting 100% of the ballot sheets at the presidential
elections, the head of the Belarusian Central Electoral Commission,
Lidia Yermoshina, said on Monday.
She said that 90.66% of the electorate took part in the voting
process, RIA Novosti reports.
Lukashenko's nearest opponent, Andrey Sannikov, received 2.56% of the votes.
The other 8 candidates received between 0.48% and 1.97% of the votes.
6.47% of the voters voted against all the candidates.
The counting of the votes was dragged out due to actions by the
opposition. After the polling stations closed, the opposition started
an unsanctioned protest on Oktyabrskaya Square in the center of Minsk
and headed to the government building, where they broke windows and a
door. The police and the military pushed them out on to Independence
Square. Some opposition members were injured. Some candidates for
president taking part in the protests were arrested. They were Nikolay
Statkevich, Andrey Sannikov, Grigory Kostuves and Vitaly Rymashevsky.
Another candidate, Vladimir Neklyayev, who was injured in the protest,
was arrested after being treated in hospital.,
