MINSK, August 10. /TASS/. Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya considers herself the winner of Sunday’s vote, as she herself told reporters at a press conference.

"Definitely," she said in response to a question.

Tikhanovskaya pointed out that she did not recognize the results announced by the Central Election Commission. "Of course we do not recognize them. The figures we got do not correspond to those that have been announced," she told reporters.

Tikhanovskaya also said that the country’s authorities had responded disproportionately to protests. "We stand for peaceful change. The measures the authorities took were disproportionate. People remained at polling stations to protect their ballots. For our part, we will do everything possible to make sure that nothing like this happens again," she added. "I see no reason why I should be arrested, and I have no plans to leave Belarus," Tikhanovskaya noted.

According to preliminary data from the Belarusian Central Election Commission, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko received 80.23% of the vote, Tikhanovskaya garnered 9.90% and the other three presidential candidates gained less than 2%. Protests erupted in Minsk and other regions of the country following the presidential vote, leading to clashes between protesters and law enforcement forces. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev, who headed the CIS observer mission, said no facts had been found that could call the results of the vote into question.