Lukashenka Predicts Landslide Election Win For Himself

Alyaksandr Lukashenka

Authoritarian Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has predicted a landslide victory for himself in general elections scheduled for December 19.

Lukashenka told a group of German journalists "around 70 percent are ready to vote for the [incumbent] president."

Lukashenka added that the united opposition could only garner 1.5 percent.

Lukashenka also rejected the frequently levelled accusation that he is Europe's last dictator, saying, "I was never a dictator and will never be one."

Lukashenka, who has been in power for 16 years, once admitted in a Russian newspaper to revising down an election result which was too strongly in his favor.

compiled from agency reports