Belarusians are voting in a closely-managed presidential election that is all but certain to extend the one-man rule of Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994 and Europe’s longest-serving leader.

Belarus votes in orchestrated election all but certain to extend the rule of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko

MINSK (Reuters) -Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko was on track to extend his 31-year rule with 87.6% of the vote in a presidential election on Sunday, according to an exit poll broadcast on state TV,

As Belarusians voted, Lukashenko sparred with the world's media at a press conference lasting more than four hours and 20 minutes. Asked how the election could be free and fair, given that all the main opposition figures are in jail or have fled the country,

Belarusians voted on Sunday in an election that was set to hand another five years in power to President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Alexander Lukashenko, who has led Belarus for the past 30 years, was on Sunday set to win his seventh consecutive mandate in an election slammed by both the opposition and the European Union as a sham vote.

Belarus is holding a presidential election in which the outcome is all but certain: a seventh term for authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Around 6.9 million people are eligible to vote in the former Soviet republic closely aligned with Moscow,