Putin ally Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for more than than three decades and is now on seventh term.Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has signalled he does not intend to seek another term in office, while rejecting speculation that he is lining up his son as successor.The self-professed “last and only dictator in Europe” hinted at his intentions in an interview with TIME magazine, saying that whoever replaces him should “not break anything right away”, but keep developing the country in order to avoid any “revolutionary breakdown”.The 70-year-old, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has led Belarus through more than three decades of authoritarian rule and was re-elected in January for a seventh five-year term.Asked by TIME’s interviewer whether he would stand in the next election, he said he was “not planning” anything, though he did teasingly add that his United States counterpart, Donald Trump, was “looking decent” at nearly 80.Lukashenko also rejected longstanding speculation that he might be grooming his son Nikolai to succeed him.“No, he is not a successor. I knew you would ask that. No, no, no. Ask him yourself, he may be really offended,” he said in excerpts from the conversation, published in Russian by Belarusian state news agency BelTA.Lukashenko told TIME that he was actually ready to step down in the last election, but changed his mind after the public demanded he rema …
