A preliminary exit poll has given Belarus’ longtime authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko nearly 80 percent of the vote, according to Russian media reports on Monday.
The main opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya received 6.8 percent of the vote based on the official exit poll.
Belarusian protesters and riot police have clashed in Belarus’ capital Minsk and other cities, after the state TV exit poll was revealed.
People in the country voted on whether to grant their authoritarian president a sixth term in office on Sunday, August 9. The election pitted President Alexander Lukashenko against a former teacher who emerged from obscurity to lead the biggest challenge in years against the man who has ruled the country for a quarter of century.
Amid the controversy surrounding the election, supporters of the challenger have protested in the capital city of Minsk and have now clashed with the police as seen by videos across social media.
With the possibility of protests against the incumbent President if he wins re-election, Belarus news website MBK has reported a plane associated with Mr Lukashenka has left the country earlier on Monday.
Using tracking data, they showed a Bombardier Challenger 850 liner associated with the family had touched down in Turkey on Monday.
This comes as more than 60 people were detained by police across the country according to human rights centre, Viasna on Sunday. Since the start of the election, the centre has reported more than 2,000 people who have been detained./Compiled from wires-argumentum. al