Does anybody genuinely doubt that Lukashenko got the majority of the votes, I don't!
If I was a pensioner, agriculture worker or state employee in Belarus I'd definitely vote for him to continue to have a stable lifestyle and some money coming in. Wouldn't you?

About the opposition: Apparently Western influence is meddling so much in the opposition in Belarus that they are actually destroying its' chances, by dictating to them what they have to do. They can do this because they finance the opposition movement.

Apparently Western "pro-democracy" lobbyists "picked" the opposition leader that they prefer - for example, in 2006 it was somebody whom the American ambassador preferred over the oppositions' own choice.

If they stepped back and let the Belarussians organise their own opposition and decide who the front man should be, then probably the opposition would do better in the elections. The commentator that I read wasn't sure whether the change had been done as a genuine sabotage, to assure that Lukashenko's victory numbers was even higher than they already would have been (thereby looking more suspicious). Or whether the reason was that there was some kind of deal in place with the person they nominated.

Belarussians are a tough people after everything they've been through - I think they should be left alone with Lukashenko, or to sort out a transfer of power to someone else themselves. I don't think it's the business of the EU, USA or even Russia.