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Alexander Lukashenko is looking to win his sixth consecutive term in office. Nikolay Petrov/BELTA/AFP
Belarus goes to the polls with longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko facing a highly-publicised challenge from a woman who stepped up to take the place of her jailed husband.
Lukashenko, 65, is seen as almost certain to win a sixth consecutive term.
He has a surprise rival in Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, a former English teacher who entered the race after her husband, an anti-government blogger who intended to run, was jailed.
Her rallies have drawn large crowds and human rights groups say more than 1,300 people have been detained in a widening crackdown.
Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, a former English teacher, is standing at the elections after her husband was jailed. Sergei Gapon/AFP
A polling station in central Minsk early Sunday was unusually busy with voters standing in line for ballot papers, an AFP reporter saw.
Many wore white bracelets after Tikhanovskaya urged her supporters to wear them.
"We are waiting for changes," said one voter, a 60-year-old woman speaking on condition of anonymity.
Tikhanovskaya says she is not a politician, describing herself as an "ordinary woman, a mother and wife."
She says that if she wins she will call fresh elections that include the entire opposition, including those currently in detention.
A man gives his vote during the elections which have seen street protests leading up to them. Sergei Gapon/AFP
Belarus ramped up security measures on election day with police carrying machine-guns checking vehicles entering Minsk. There was a heightened police presence in the city and government buildings were cordoned off by police.
Prosecutor-General Alexander Konyuk urged voters to be "reasonable" and not take part in unsanctioned protests, Belta state news agency reported.
In comments broadcast on television, Lukashenko, who had earlier warned that his opponents wanted to stir up unrest, said: "No one will let anything get out of control. Nothing will get out of control, I guarantee you."
Tikhanovskaya, who joined forces for her campaign with the wife of one barred opposition chief and the campaign manager of another, said she would not call on her supporters to protest after the vote.
At the same time she asked police not to obey "criminal orders."
On Saturday, authorities arrested Tikhanovskaya's campaign manager and briefly detained one of her two top allies.
Tikhanovskaya, by far the strongest of Lukashenko's four rivals in opinion polls, urged Belarusians to help prevent election fraud by voting late on Sunday.
The electoral commission chief warned against this, however, saying polling stations would restrict the flow of voters to prevent overcrowding.
And the central electoral commission reported that a record 41.7 percent of voters cast their ballots in early voting.
Independent observer group Right of Choice said that at least 28 of its observers had been detained and election officials barred others from entering polling stations.
Ahead of the vote Lukashenko warned that dissent would not be tolerated and that he would not give up his "beloved" Belarus.
"We will not give the country to you," he warned his opponents as he addressed the nation this week.
Lukashenko has sought to galvanise support by warning of outside threats and raising the spectre of violent mobs.
Belarus has detained over 30 Russians Lukashenko said were mercenaries allegedly sent to the country to destabilise the vote.
The detentions sparked a political crisis with ally Russia, with Moscow urging the men's release and President Vladimir Putin telling Lukashenko that he wants Belarus to stay "stable."
Lukashenko has retained close ties to Moscow, though he has played Russia and the West off against each other.
France, Germany and Poland have urged Lukashenko to ensure a "free and fair" election and allow "independent surveillance of the vote by local observers".
But this time Minsk has not invited observers from the European OSCE observer group for the first time since 2001.
Source(s): AFP ,Reuters
