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Dirty Victory in Belarussian Elections

Incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko has won a third five-year term after an election in Belarus. However, despite election officials saying more than 80 percent of the public went to the polls, the main opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, claims the vote was rigged. State Television claims that President Lukashenko won 82 percent of the vote from more than seven million eligible voters.

However, Milinkevich claims any landslide victory by Lukashenko is a lie, and held a rally with a reported 10,000 people, at Oktyabrskaya Square in Minsk. Milinkevich says, "We demand new, honest elections. This was a complete farce."

However, despite the recent wave of revolutions sweeping across ex-Soviet nations, Milinkevich says that all demonstrations against the current administration must be peaceful. Observers from OSCE, a European organization, noted that in no way were the Belarussian elections conducted in a free and fair environment, though appearances were contrary to the conditions which resulted in the "Orange Revolution" which helped change Ukraine`s system of government after corrupt elections there.