18 years ago, 39 years old Alexander Lukashenko was elected the first and so far the only president of Belarus.
"July 10, 1994, after a difficult struggle with the five other candidates, representing the entire spectrum of political forces, Alexander Lukashenko was elected President of the Republic of Belarus.
He got more than 80% of the vote, and in the worsening economic crisis, during the sharp drop in living standards of most people he started the serial implementation of program promises, above all, the formation of national statehood", the official website of President tells about the event.
However, none of the subsequent referendums (and Lukashenko conducted them three times), nor elections (presidential, parliamentary or local) were not recognized by the democratic community as free and fair.
Thus, "the formation of national statehood" actually was reduced to the construction of a rigid authoritarian system of state power and to creation of the cult of Lukashenko's personality.
