Minsk: Alexander Lukashenko was reelected as president of Belarus, winning a 7th five-year term, according to the preliminary results from the Central Election Commission, cited by the state news agency Belta on Monday. The commission announced that Lukashenko secured 86.82% of the vote in the presidential election held on Sunday.

According to Anadolu Agency, Lukashenko's closest rival, Sergei Syrankov, garnered 3.21% of the votes, followed by Oleg Gaidukevich with 2.02%, Anna Kanopatskaya with 1.86%, and Alexander Khizhnyak with 1.74%. Under Belarusian law, a candidate must secure over 50% of the vote to win the presidency outright.

The election commission is expected to release the final results by February 5. Just over 6.9 million citizens were eligible to vote in the election, with early voting taking place from January 21 to 25. Igor Karpenko, the commission's chairman, stated that nearly 500 international observers were accredited to monitor the voting process.

Lukashenko has maintained his position since first winning the country's presidential election in 1994.