The authoritarian ruler of Belarus will have to face only symbolic challengers in the presidential elections

TALLINN, Estonia — The Belarusian electoral commission on Monday allowed the loyalty of seven politicians President Alexander Lukashenko to start collecting signatures to run against him in the January elections, an apparent attempt to create the appearance of competition for the long-time authoritarian ruler.

Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for more than 30 years, is seeking a seventh term amid ruthless attacks on the opposition and free media.

elections, scheduled for January 26was to come 4.5 years after the 2020 presidential vote, which was rejected by the opposition and the West as a rigged fraud and sparked mass protests across the country. Belarusian authorities responded to the demonstrations with a sweep suppression of dissent, resulting in the arrest of approximately 65,000 people.

As a result of the repression, key opposition activists were imprisoned or fled the country. Human rights activists say about 1,300 political prisoners are currently being held in Belarus, and many of them are denied adequate medical care and contact with their families.

Lukashenko relied on this grants and political support from its main ally, Russia, to weather the protests. He allowed Moscow to use the territory of Belarus to send troops to Ukraine in February 2022.

Last week, the Central Election Commission of Belarus registered an initiative group for Lukashenko to prepare for the race. On Monday, it also allowed seven politicians to start collecting signatures, including Sergei Syrankov from the Communist Party, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Oleg Gajdukevich and former spokeswoman of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Olga Chemodanova.

“These are alternative candidates and I believe they just want to protect the incumbent,” Lukashenko said of his aspiring symbolic challengers.

To enter the race, each candidate must collect at least 100,000 signatures by December 6.

Last week, the commission refused to register the initiative groups of two opposition politicians who aspired to take part in the race.

“There are candidates, but there is no competition in these elections,” said independent political analyst Walery Karbalewicz. “Lukashenko is afraid of a repeat of the 2020 protests, his trauma is still fresh, so he will hold the vote in a format in which the result will be predetermined.”

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is in exile after opposing Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, condemned the January vote as a farce and called on Belarusians to vote against all candidates.

“We propose that people express their protest by voting against all those who rob us of our right to vote,” said Tsikhanouskaya, whose husband Siarhei Tsikhanouskaya is serving 19 and a half years in prison after trying to run against Lukashenko. “These are not elections, but an imitation of the electoral process carried out in an atmosphere of terror, when alternative candidates and observers are not allowed.”

During February parliamentary and local electionsin which only candidates loyal to Lukashenko could run, and for the first time also Belarus he refused to invite observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to monitor the vote.