Opponents disappeared without a trace, economic life became subordinate to the state. In this way, Aleksandr Lukashenka, the longest-serving president of Europe, is holding on to his power, which he wants to hand over to his next son.
In August 2020, the leader of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenka, protested with workers at a tractor factory in Minsk. The country was rocked by violent protests over the apparent election fraud of Lukashenka’s administration.
– Do you want fair elections? According to the Washington Post, Lukashenka asked his audience, who shouted in response: “Yes.”
– I’ll answer your question. We got the election done. There won’t be a new one until you kill me.
Lukashenka eventually defeated the resistance and crowned himself the country’s president for a seventh term.
Information about his illness in recent days has once again exposed the prophecy contained in his words: can democratization of Belarus be enough to get rid of Lukashenka?
Due to this, speculations started about the health of Alexander Lukashenka. At the Victory Day parade in Moscow, he sat in the audience writhing in pain, his right arm bandaged, and left the party prematurely. Photo: Gavril Grigorov/AFP
This week, Lukashenka posted pictures of himself to quell rumors about his health. The bandage was changed in the left hand. Photo: Press Service of the President o / Reuters
At least the opposition living in exile has urged its supporters to be prepared.
There are various rumors about the dictator’s health. For us it means one thing: you have to be prepared for everything. To turn Belarus on the path of democracy and prevent Russia from interfering. The international community must be active and prompt, declared opposition leader Svetlana Sihanauskaja.
If Lukashenka, 68, was indeed so ill that he could not continue leading his country, it would mean historic upheaval.
The next year, his reign would have already lasted 30 years. The decades have turned Belarus into a dictatorship and a unique relic of the Soviet Union, and paved the way for other autocratic leaders on the one hand.
If we compare the beginning of his career with Lukashenka, Putin himself is like a handyman.
Read more: Editorial: Lukashenka becomes Putin’s weakest link – a wild chain of events already underway in neighboring countries under Russian control
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Lukashenka surprisingly won the first free election in Belarus in 1994 at the age of only 39 – which remained the last free election for that time.
Lukashenka in 1994. Photo: Reuters/Grigory Dukor
He had served in the border forces of the Soviet Army, and after his military career, after joining the Communist Party, he rose to the prestigious position of managing an agricultural collective farm.
In his election campaign, Lukashenka rode on populism and was even nicknamed “Little Zhirinovsky” after Russian nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
Nicknamed “Batka” by the father, Lukashenka promised jobs to the people and an exit to the corrupt elite, whom he accused of plunging the country into chaos.
Lukashenka blew the whistle shortly after his election. He pushed through changes that increased the power of the president through a referendum, and eventually dismissed the country’s parliament, which tried to impeach him. Since then, the Parliament of Belarus has been just a rubber stamp for Lukashenka.
In 1995, members of the Belarusian parliament went on a hunger strike to protest Lukashenka. The parliament was dismissed and Lukashenka installed a new one in its place, which has little authority over the country’s affairs. Photo: Reuters
In 1999, in Minsk, protesters protested against Lukashenka’s intentions to strengthen cooperation with Russia. Photo: Reuters Photographer
Lukashenka had created a mafia state long before Putin’s Russia was called by the same name. He surrounded himself with trusted persons and generously rewarded his supporters. Many opponents had a tough time.
During 1999, at least three politicians who opposed Lukashenka disappeared without a trace.
The fates of former Interior Minister Juri Zaharanka, opposition politician Viktor Hantscher and his business partner Anatoly Krasoussky have never been clarified.
In 2019, in an interview with Deutsche Welle, a former member of the Belarusian security forces said that he had participated in her abduction and execution. The bodies were buried in secret places. The investigation into the disappearances in Belarus was closed a long time ago.
Mini-Soviet Union
In 2001, Lukashenka, who had extended his first term by referendum, received an avalanche of votes in re-elections which, according to the OSCE, were rigged for him.
Financially beleaguered Belarusians signed a petition to their president in Minsk in 1997. Photo: Reuters
At the time, it was believed that the people had actually voted for Lukashenka, who had managed to stabilize the economy with increased support from Russia. Lukashenka did it in his own style of what he calls a mini-Soviet, where companies were strictly under state control.
Putin, who turned leader of a neighboring country, had also found a humble ally in Lukashenka, whom Russia accused of refining the oil, and Belarus selling it to the West to generate income.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian Alexander Lukashenko and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma meet in Vitebsk, Belarus in 2001. Photo: PhotoXpress/ZUMA Press/MV Photos
The secret police of Belarus was called the KGB. It punished those who played gravel sounds in a Stalinist style by having them beaten and imprisoned.
One of the common goals of Lukashenka and Putin has been the union of Russia and Belarus, which can also be called a kind of mini-Soviet Union. Cooperation between countries is getting closer all the time.
Read more: Opposition leader alleges: Russia has practically already occupied Belarus
Lukashenka portrays the leader of an independent country, although in reality his power is believed to be completely dependent on Putin. Belarus has not joined the war against Ukraine, but has allowed its territory to be used for Russian military operations.
Calls for Lukashenka to be Europe’s last dictator began as early as the turn of the millennium. In 2012, he himself bragged about the term in an interview with Reuters.
– I ask myself what is a dictator. I didn’t get. This is some terrible person, an evil person. But I’m not scary, and not bad at all… I don’t understand what a dictator is, but on the other hand, sometimes, in a good way, I envy myself. I am the only and last dictator in Europe and there is no other dictator like it anywhere in the world. You came here and saw a living dictator, and where would he work. Yes, there is something in this. They say even bad publicity is good publicity, Lukashenka said.
people have had enough
Under pressure from Lukashenka, Belarus never developed the same type of oligarchic system as Russia or Ukraine. They also tried to prevent the birth of a middle class demanding their rights. This worked for the last few years.
In September 2020, a protester was arrested in Minsk. Photo: Belapan/Reuters
Gross election fraud in 2020 sparked protests the likes of which had never been seen before. Lukashenka was already expected to yield, but he responded with even more brutal violence, backed by Russia.
Reports from human rights organizations tell of torture centers where thousands of detainees were dragged. Lukashenka himself appeared in a bulletproof vest and in combat position with an automatic weapon – even though the protesters were mainly unarmed and peaceful.
– His behavior is a sign of political alienation, which has made him paranoid and small-minded. Ivar Dale, a human rights expert with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, told Al Jazeera at the time: “We see a volatile and dangerous man who desperately clings to power that he believes belongs only to him.”
The most drastic move since the popular uprising was to shoot down a Ryanair plane that was flying over Belarus airspace in March 2021, traveling from Greece to Lithuania under the cover of a fake bomb threat.
In Minsk, police arrested opposition activist Roman Pratasevych and his girlfriend who were on the plane. In March of this year, Pratasevitsch was sentenced to eight years in prison for “organizing demonstrations.”
Over the years, Lukashenka has also built a cult of personality around him, whose reins will eventually be aimed at inherited power. Even his youngest son, currently 18-year-old Miklai, has been speculated to be the successor.
Mikalai, Russian spelling Nikolai, joins Lukashenka at his father’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea in May 2021. Photo: SPUTNIK
The boy appeared in official references with his father from the time he was ten years old. It is suspected that his mother is not Halina, Lukashenka’s wife, but one of the dictator’s mistresses. During the uprising, Miklai was also seen in TV photographs wearing a bulletproof vest and holding an assault rifle.
For the time being, this is the last picture of Putin and Lukashenka together. The leader of Belarus left shortly after Moscow’s Victory Day celebrations, apparently feeling unwell. Photo: Dmitry Golubovich/Zuma
Lukashenka is also known for his many outrageous rants, which describe his world of thought.
During the Corona epidemic, he urged people to fight the disease with vodka and sauna. He has cultivated anti-Semitic and sexual minority rhetoric. Regarding Svetlana Sihanauskaja, who has emerged as her main rival, Lukashenka has said she would be better suited “for cooking than discussing issues”.
Read more: Suspicion deepens about Lukashenka’s health – rumors of the President’s hospitalization
His description of himself and his mission is found in a biography of the dictator published on the website of Lukashenka’s administration.
My life, like the lives of all presidents, is very busy. You get up and keep running. What’s it like running together for 25 years? I got used to it.
– The hamster’s running wheel keeps spinning, and you can’t get out of it. If you stop, it will keep going and throw you back. This is life. I’m used to it.
aljaksandra lukashenka
Born: 30 August 1954 (age 68)
Family: Wife Halina Lukashenka. The eldest son Victor works as a security consultant for his father, son Dzmitry is a businessman. The youngest son Miklai (Russian spelling Nikolai) has met foreign guests with his father and is rumored to be the favorite to become the country’s leader in the future.
In office: Since 20 July 1994. Europe’s longest serving president.
Sanctions: The European Union has imposed a personal travel ban on Lukashenka for her violent suppression of the protests. Widespread international sanctions have also been imposed against Belarus, affecting a total of about two hundred individuals and dozens of organizations.
