Belarus holds parliamentary polls

Belarusians head to the polls Sunday to elect members to the ex-Soviet republic’s rubber-stamp parliament.

The elections are being closely watched by the West to see how much President Alexander Lukashenko will loosen his iron-fisted grip on power.

Often dubbed “Europe’s last dictatorship,” the nation of 10 million has been ruled Lukashenko for 25 years.

In the last parliamentary election in 2016, Lukashenko allowed two opposition candidates to win seats in the 110-member parliament for the first time in 20 years. This time, both of those candidates have been prevented from running on technical grounds.

Despite the disqualification of the two opposition parliamentarians, more than 300 opposition candidates are contesting the election though some others were barred from registering.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has 400 election observers on the ground.

Via DW