December 25, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka topped the list of the five recently registered presidential candidates as the highest-paid one in 2023, the central election commission has said, citing their tax returns.
The Belarusian ruler reportedly earned 203,600 rubels (some $59,500) in salary last year. He did not declare ownership of any property. His estranged wife’s income was at 9,200 rubels (about $2,690). She owns a land plot and two real estate properties in the Mahiloŭ region.
Łukašenka’s supporter Aleh Hajdukievič of the Liberal Democratic Party declared an income of 157,700 rubels ($46,090), an apartment in Minsk, a passenger car and two motorcycles.
Siarhiej Syrankoŭ, of the pro-government Communist Party of Belarus, reported a similar income, a house in the Mahiloŭ region and a Peugeot car.
Alaksandar Chižniak, leader of the pro-government Republican Party of Labor and Justice, said he earned 121,300 rubels ($35,450) and owned two cars.
Former MP Hanna Kanapackaja concludes the list with an income of 94,000 rubels ($27,470), a car, an apartment and a 50-percent stake in an office in Minsk.
Belarus will hold its seventh presidential election from January 21 to 26, with the whole election cycle limited to just three months.
The current campaign is taking place in a purged political landscape amid a new wave of crackdown on regime critics.
The Belarusian opposition dismissed the election as a sham, noting that political reprisals prevent pro-democracy candidates from running and voters from freely expressing their will.
Belarus has not held a single free and fair election since 1996 by the standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
