Belarus - aka Lukashenko-land

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Turnout high, but doubts cloud Belarus parliamentary election | News | DW.COM | 11.09.2016
Voting has ended in Belarus, with the opposition winning a seat for the first time in two decades (!)
Polling stations closed on Sunday evening, with officials later declaring that the level of voter participation reached over 74 percent.

While the parliament of the ex-Soviet state remains tightly controlled by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, preliminary results showed that the opposition had managed to claim at least one of the 110 seats. The authoritarian leader had previously managed to keep the assembly opposition-free for 20 years.

In addition to Anna Konopatskaya from the United Civil Party, independent candidate Elena Anisim also claimed a seat. A total of 484 candidates ran for a place in the assembly.

However, the election is being held against a backdrop of mistrust, and critics have said tight restrictions on campaigning and state control of the media have prevented a genuinely free election. Concerns have also been raised that the state, presided over by Lukashenko, could manipulate the results after ballot boxes from early voting were left unguarded for several days.