Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko extended his more than three decades in power in Sunday’s orchestrated election that the opposition and the European Union rejected as a sham. The Central Election Commission declared Lukashenko the winner in the early hours of Monday and reaffirmed it later in the morning,

Belarus’ opposition activists and Western officials on Monday denounced an orchestrated election that extends the more than three-decade rule of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The country’s exiled opposition leader called the result “sheer nonsense.

The autocrat Alexander Lukashenko won 87.6% of the vote according to an official exit poll. The exiled opposition called for the result not to be recognized.