Instead, he unilaterally extended his term until 2001. In 1996, he staged a referendum to amend the constitution to give himsef even more power. The Belarus constitutional court ruled the referendum unconstitutional. Lukshenko ignored the ruling, disbanded the parliament, and created a puppet legislature. The United States will not accept the trappings of democracy in Belarus in lieu of the real thing.
Democracy depends on free and fair elections.
The people of Belarus want nothing less.