{"id":120866,"date":"2025-01-08T13:13:57","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T10:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120866\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"pro-government-presidential-hopeful-calls-for-boosting-defense","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120866\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-government presidential hopeful calls for boosting defense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Republican Party of Labor and Justice)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

January 8, Pozirk. <\/em><\/strong>Alaksandar Chi\u017eniak defined the <\/em><\/strong>protection of Belarus from internal and external threats and preserving its territorial integrity and independence as priorities in his radio address to the voters as part of the presidential campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chi\u017eniak, who leads the pro-government Republican Party of Labor and Justice, runs for president along with Belarus\u2019 longtime ruler Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, his other two supporters, Siarhiej Syranko\u016d and Aleh Hajdukievi\u010d and former MP Hanna Kanapackaja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The politician suggested expanding the Belarusian army using new technologies and weapons, increasing the number of industrial and technological parks and strengthening rural infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his address, Chi\u017eniak acknowledged Belarus’ demographic problems, noting that one in five Belarusians will be over 65 years old by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the four years that passed after the contested 2020 presidential election, Belarus’ population decreased by at least 254,000 but the actual numbers may be higher as official statistics do not account for people who left fearing politically-motivated persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country has not held a single free and fair election since 1996 by the standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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