Belarus' opposition activists and Western officials on Monday denounced an orchestrated election that extends the more than three-decade rule of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The country's exiled opposition leader called the result “sheer nonsense.

Many Western leaders are decrying Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election victory Sunday, calling it a sham along with the country's opposition.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya refuses to call what's happening this weekend in Belarus an election."It's a sham," the exiled opposition leader says. "This is a military-style operation; a performance staged by the regime to hold on to power.