While human chains of women with flowers line the streets of Belarusian cities, demanding the resignation of Lukashenko, and on opposition Telegram channels bravura convince their supporters that victory is very close, just a little more… a little more… the question remains unclear: what then after the victory?
The most general answer is, well, new elections. Free, democratic, and so on. Good! Then another question: who will take part in them? Since the political forces in Belarus are very sparse, the entire spectrum of political forces is divided into two camps — absent parties and banned parties. The first will appear in the future, and the second, after the ban on their open activities is lifted, will get a head start in the election race, having an already established ideology, structure, means of propaganda and, finally, a program. After all, all protests do without any program, being inspired by one “down with the Tsar”. And we do remember that all the “most interesting” things a hundred years ago only started after the Tsar was removed!
Well, this is the ONLY program available so far, developed by a whole bloc of Belarusian marginal and underground political forces — the Belarusian People’s Front, the Belarusian Green Party, the Belarusian Social Democratic party (Hramada), Belarusian Christian Democracy, the United Civic Party, as well as the movement “For Freedom” and the “Our House” centre for civic initiatives. It is pretentiously called – “Reanimation package of reforms for Belarus”, published on June 22nd 2020, on the eve of the election. I.e., naturally, this is an election program – a declaration of what will be done “when we come to power”.
We open the section “National security sector reform” — and read. We read and go crazy, read and weep from simplicity that is worse than theft:
“The situation both inside the country and around it is developing in an unfavourable way for the national interests of Belarus. The main threats to national security are caused by the growing aggressiveness of the Kremlin’s foreign policy, Belarus’ participation in post-Soviet integration projects under the aegis of Russia, the dominance of Russian media in the information space of Belarus, and the low level of national consciousness of Belarusians.”
We’ve heard it all before, haven’t we? On the eve of the Ukrainian Maidan, it seems. We go further — and then there is just a “feast of the spirit”, such an aggressive feast that it seems as if all of this was “planted by the enemy”, but alas — everything is genuine, not a provocation.
“Priority measures (until 2021). in the political sphere:
- Withdrawal from the ‘Union State’, the Eurasian Union, the Customs Union, and other integration entities where Russia dominates;
- Ban pro-Russian organisations whose activities are contrary to national interests, as well as Russian foundations and organisations that finance such structures;
- Introduction of criminal liability for public statements that challenge the existence of a separate Belarusian nation and/or its historical right to its own state. Introduction of criminal liability for public insults to the Belarusian language;
- Civic society monitoring of pro-Kremlin initiatives in Belarus;
- Implementation of border and customs control at the border with Russia”.
Cannibal frankness, of course! They copied from Tyagnibok or Yarosh. “Army, language, faith“ in the most direct and blunt form.
There’s a lot more — about joining the EU and NATO (I wonder if they will remember about lace panties?..), about reorientation to the countries of “Intermarium“, but we will emphasise, perhaps, the most important among the medium-term, until 2025, goals:
- “Returning the Belarusian language to the status of the only state language, guaranteeing the rights of national minorities to education and cultural activities in their native language;
- Development and implementation of administrative and financial measures to stimulate Belarusian-language media, book publishing, and cultural life. Return of state surcharges for training and education in the Belarusian language in pre school secondary and higher educational institutions;
- Conduct the comprehensive de-communisation and de-Sovietisation of Belarus;
- The Belarusisation of the religious life of all Christian denominations and other religions;
- The Belarusisation of the education system at all levels and forms”.
Be-la-rus! This is like Ukrainisation – just as forcibly, over the knee, contrary to the interests of the vast majority of the population — but on a different basis. A tracing of the triumphant Russophobic rurality, a tracing of instinctive hatred for the history of our nation, for its toponyms and monuments, victories, and heroes.
It is striking how self-centered this delusional program is! After all, most Belarusians speak Russian, have a good attitude to the Soviet heritage, and see solid advantages in the absence of a border with Russia. But in the Ukrainian example, we already know that 20% can easily “bend” the remaining 80%. So “Belarusisation” — although nonsense, it’s not a utopia.
Do all these “people with kind faces” who respect themselves and their colleagues for their conscientiousness and non-courtesy understand who they are bringing to power? They think that they are participating in a lofty civic protest, but in fact they were made participants of a standard “national liberation movement”, however, 30 years late.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also speaks very eloquently about this during his speech in Poland: “The Belarusian people must gain freedom and SOVEREIGNTY“! It seems to Belarusians that they are fighting for freedom, and other uncles are preparing “sovereignty” for them in terms of total separation from Russia both in economic and cultural-historical terms.
And one of the main protest resources — the website “Charter 97” – already feels that it is necessary to gradually prepare mass psychology not just for the overthrow of Lukashenko, but also for the subsequent transformation, and publishes materials that are not news, but conceptual content: “Miracle over the Vistula: on August 15th, the Polish army saved Europe from the Bolsheviks” or “10 greatest victories of Belarusians” – won for some reason almost exclusively over “Moskovia” (with an explanation for the unintelligible: “it was precisely Russia that was the main enemy in the centuries-old history of our state“). At the same time, not even defensive, but purely offensive, occupation actions of the Poles against Russia – the battle of Klushino in the Time of Troubles – are presented as a triumph of Belarusians, who, however, did not exist then, and therefore should be considered “our own” victories of the Commonwealth.
Unfortunately, there are no options — if the “uprising” is of a “national liberation character”, then it brings only the Nazis to the top. And it is very rare to remove them back to the margins and underground. You, dear participants of the protests against the “evil Mr Lukashenko”, will definitely learn what street terror committed by “activists” against all dissenters is — and you will be able to compare whether it is better than the current actions of the police. Good luck in this difficult task.
Grigory Ignatov
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