Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko has been declared the official winner of Belarus' presidential election, the state news agency Belta reported Thursday.

Supporters of opposition presidential candidate Alexander Milinkevich shout slogans during a rally in Minsk March 19, 2006. [Reuters]

Lukashenko won a new five-year term with 83 percent of the vote, while the main opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, received 6.1 percent, Central Election Commission secretary Nikolai Lozovik was quoted as saying by Belta.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a news conference in Minsk March 20, 2006. Lukashenko said triumphantly on Monday his re-election showed efforts to stage a pro-West revolt in Belarus had failed, but independent observers criticised the poll as neither free nor fair.[Reuters]

The numbers differed only slightly from preliminary results issued a day after Sunday's vote, which the opposition, many foreign governments and Europe's leading election monitoring body say was undemocratic. The government has dismissed the criticism.

The election has led to round-the-clock protests in a central Minsk square by Lukashenko opponents who claim the vote was a farce and are calling for new balloting in which he would be barred from participating. Lukashenko has been in power since 1994.