MINSK, January 27. /TASS/. Belarusian authorities strived to make the January 26 presidential election as fair as possible so that no opponent could question it, Belarus' leader Alexander Lukashenko said.
"At these elections, we tried to do everything in a democratic manner so that no opponent could find fault with us. We tried our best," he said at a meeting with Sergey Lebedev, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and head of the organization's observer mission.
Lukashenko put particular emphasis on the work of the CIS mission. "Thank you for coming and working with your colleagues. We value all your opinions and conclusions, as you are sincere friends of ours. And I want you to be honest," the state-run BelTA agency quoted Lukashenko as saying.
The chairman of the Belarusian Central Electoral Commission and his colleagues had leading roles during the election - they immediately provided the public with the updates both during the preliminary voting and on the election day, the Belarusian leader noted. "But perhaps there is something that did not catch your friendly eye <...> We are rational people who are ready to fix everything, so please be honest with us. I am once again grateful for your coming to Belarus at this difficult time and observing the [electoral] process boldly and openly," the head of state added.
According to preliminary data of the Central Election Commission of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko gained 86.82% of votes in the presidential election held on January 26, 2025.