On: Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controve...

[foepys]

I don't think it's impossible for elected officials to be liked for 5 or 6 terms. In Germany Merkel is so well liked that most people (>70% according to polls) are actually sad that she doesn't want to run for a 5th term.

[dgellow → foepys]

I think it’s worth pointing out that a German chancellor has very limited power when compared to the Belorussian president.

[Nginx487 → foepys]

I don't think Merkel put political opponents behind bars like Belarusian president (de-facto allowed to be lifetime in the office), or assassinate, like his Russian colleague (lifetime in the office as welll).