Minsk [Belarus], January 27 (ANI): Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is set to extend his three decade-reign as exit polls show him winning the presidential elections -- which the West has called a 'sham' -- with 87.6 per cent of the votes, Al Jazeera reported citing an exit poll broadcast on state TV.

Sunday's vote was the country's first presidential election since Lukashenko crushed mass protests against his government in 2020 and permitted Russia to use Belarusian territory for its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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Lukashenko has been in power in Belarus since 1994 and is seeking a seventh term.

The country's last presidential election in 2020 ended with nationwide protests, unprecedented in the history of the country of nine million people. The opposition and Western nations accused Lukashenko of rigging the election and imposed sanctions.

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In response, the Belarusian government cracked down and imprisoned over 1,000 people, including Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, Ales Bialiatski.

The United Nations estimates that approximately 3,00,000 Belarusians have left the country since 2020 - mostly to Poland and Lithuania. They will not be able to vote, with Belarus having scrapped voting abroad, according to Al Jazeera.

"All our opponents and enemies should understand: do not hope, we will never repeat what we had in 2020," Lukashenko told a stadium in Minsk during a ceremony on Friday.

Lukashenko called Belarus a "tough democracy".

"We don't put pressure on anyone and we won't silence anyone," he added.

His comments came a day after Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, called the election a "sham" and said, "Lukashenko doesn't have any legitimacy".

Lukashenko's rule, which began two years after the demise of the Soviet Union, earned him the nickname of "Europe's last dictator", relying on subsidies and political support from close ally Russia.

According to Al Jazeera, the four candidates running against Lukashenko have been picked only to give the election an air of democracy and are hardly known by the people. They are loyal to him and praise his rule. (ANI)

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