I have covered many elections.
I have seen prime ministers and presidents gather at polling stations, vote and then answer a few questions from reporters.
But I have never seen anything like this on the scene in polling station 478 in Minsk.
Belarus' long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko, once called “Europe's last dictator”, arrived to vote. Then, while Belarusians were still voting, candidate Lukashenko gave a four and a half hour press conference live on state television.
It was an opportunity to question him about the controversial vote, which his critics denounced as a “fraud”.
“What pitiful question do you have in store for me?” he asked. “As you always do.”
“Good morning,” I replied.
“Good morning, Steve.”
“How can you call this a democratic election when your main rivals are either in jail or in exile? I asked.
“Some are in prison and some in exile. But you are here!” Lukashenko said.
“Everyone has the right to choose. This is democracy. Some chose prison, others exile. We have never forced anyone to leave the country.”
In fact, the authorities' brutal crackdown on protesters following the 2020 presidential election. resulted in the staunchest opponents of Alexander Lukashenko being jailed or sent into political exile. Personal choice doesn't come into it.
“You recently said 'We shouldn't silence people' (silence people),” I reminded him.
“But your rivals weren't just kept off the ballot. Some of them were imprisoned. There are currently more than 1,200 political prisoners in Belarus. Isn't it time we opened the prison cells and set them free? People like Maria Kolesnikova, Sergey Tihanovski…”
“You keep talking to me about Maria. Lord,” sighed Lukashenko.
“Okay, I'll answer your question… Jail is for people who have opened their mouths too wide and broken the law. Don't you have prisons in Britain and America?'
“In any country, if you break the law, you have to face the consequences,” he continued. “The law is strict, but it's the law. I didn't make it up. You have to obey it.”
“You have to obey the law,” I interjected. “But these people are in jail because they criticized you.”
“Ignorance of the law does not exempt you from responsibility before it.”
Although prominent opposition figures were not allowed to run, Alexander Lukashenko's name was not the only one on the ballot. There were four other candidates. But they came across more spoilers than serious contenders.
“We talked to some of the other candidates,” I told Lukashenko. “One of them, the leader of the Communist Party, openly supports you. Another praises you. Strange election, isn't it, with such opponents…”
“Steve, this is a whole new experience for you!” he replied, prompting laughter and applause from the local journalists in the room.
“True,” I said. “I have never seen such an election before.
“The policy of the Communists, based on justice, is the same policy that we promote,” Lukashenko claimed. “Then why would they vote against me?”
The High Representative of the European Union for foreign policy, Kaya Callas, described these presidential elections in Belarus as “an open insult to democracy”.
Not that Alexander Lukashenko seems to care.
“I swear,” he told me, “I don't care if you recognize our election or not. The most important thing for me is that the people of Belarus recognize him.”