Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for over 30 years, is poised to extend his rule in an election that concludes Sunday and that the opposition dismisses as a farce.

European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper commented on the presidential elections in Belarus scheduled for Sunday, calling them a "complete fraud." She emphasized that this "exercise" cannot be called an election because the outcome is predetermined,

The presidential election in Belarus will be a landmark event for many people far beyond the Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS Secretary General and head of the CIS observation mission at Belarus' presidential election Sergei Lebedev said at a meeting of the CIS Advisory Council of Heads of Electoral Bodies,

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 15 prisoners on Friday in what state media called a humanitarian gesture, two days before an election in which he is set to further extend his 31-year rule.

Five years since the harsh crackdown on protestors after the 2020 election, critics are readying themselves for Belarus' election in January.