Alyaksandr Lukashenka won presidential election 19 years ago
On July 10, 1994, 80,6% voted for him - this is more than 4,2 million Belarusians.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka ran for President as a people's deputy - director of the collective farm "Haradzets" in Shklou district. The then PM Vyachaslau Kebich was his rival in the second round of the election.
Lukashenka managed to increase the number of his supporters nearly twice between the first and the second rounds. Those who voted for Zyanon Paznyak, Stanislau Shushkevich and other candidates in the first round, then voted for him.
As for the future President's opponent, he lost 3% of votes, on the contrary. Only 14,2% of voters voted for him on July 10.
Lukashenka got the record-breaking 86,49% in his native Mahileu region. The head of the control commission which observed the election was then... Mikalaj Statkevich. In 2010, Mikalaj Statkevich ran for President from the opposition. After the election, he was imprisoned for 6 years.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka's inauguration took place 10 days later, on July 20. The day before, the Soviet Byelorussia came out with the following heading: "Alyaksandr Lukashenka got the President's certificate. However, not everyone will be able to drink to the health of the newly elected President - the prices for vodka increased by 3 times."
Photo: "Solidarity".
