{"id":11455,"date":"2022-08-05T14:11:31","date_gmt":"2022-08-05T11:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/lukasenka-fears-of-power-transfer-to-a-successor\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"lukasenka-fears-of-power-transfer-to-a-successor","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11455\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0141uka\u0161enka fears of power transfer to a successor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t * Reproduction is allowed\n<\/p>\n

\n Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka, in his remarks during a recent tour of the S\u0142uck district, indicated that he did not see a successor he could trust.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

Fear of irreversible power transfer<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t \u201cListen, we are not here forever. You\u2019ve got to have two or three persons behind to avoid embarrassment later . . . I am watching [Minsk City Executive Committee Chairman Alaksandr] Tur\u010din, will he be able to govern the country or not? And I\u2019m thinking: what if he won\u2019t? You won\u2019t be able to intervene afterward. How can you? You can\u2019t stand in the way of a president,\u201d the Belarusian leader said in a conversation with a local farm boss.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Tur\u010din, who was also present, noted that he was not looking for the top job.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u0141uka\u0161enka also mentioned D\u017amitryj Kruty, a deputy head of his Presidential Administration, as a potential successor. Three days later, he appointed Kruty, 41, as ambassador to Russia.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t It was not the first time that he discussed potential successors. In March 2001, he mentioned Juryj Karaje\u016d, a former interior minister, and Uladzimir Karanik, a former health minister.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Obviously, he does not consider any of them as his possible replacement.\n<\/p>\n

Not only obsession with power<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t \u0141uka\u0161enka is obsessed with power. \u201cI have grown into this country and it has grown into me. I can\u2019t understand how you can live and retire and do something else. I can\u2019t imagine it,\u201d he said a year ago.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t But he is holding on to power not only because he is obsessed with it or because he has used to a living standard that he could not even dream of when he was a child or a collective farm boss.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He fears that he might face criminal prosecution when he steps down or retires.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cIt turned out that we have 15 to 20 persons who can grow to become presidents. They are like me in a way because I raised them and they grew by my side,\u201d he said in 2021.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He sees only someone close to him as the next president and does not consider a free competitive election as an option.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He said on several occasions that he had been chosen by God. And he considers himself to be much better than others.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He suppressed 2020-21 protests without hesitation. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t even move a single muscle [wouldn\u2019t hesitate] to put the army to action if I saw them cross the red line and get too far,\u201d he said about protesters.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t In fact, he used troops to suppress protests. If he his regime were in greater danger, he would have ordered soldiers to shoot at protesters. He brandished a Kalashnikov rifle during the first days of unrest.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He is probably thinking that his successor may face a similar challenge. What if he fails to employ the army and opponents win? He looks to avoid the fate of Muammar al-Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He can never be sure that his successor will not betray him.\n<\/p>\n

Health, circumstances permit<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t \u0141uka\u0161enka seems to be planning to stay in office as long as health permits. Under the new Constitution, he can govern at least until 2035. He can change the constitution, if necessary.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He has three sons and may be leaning toward picking the youngest one as his successor. He is confident that he will be able to deal with any public unrest triggered by economic causes and hopes that the regime in Moscow will always support him because it follows the same path.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He does not take seriously plans by opponents to set up a liberation army abroad.\n<\/p>\n

Biggest threat comes from Kremlin<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t \u0141uka\u0161enka should be wary of his closest ally as Vladimir Putin seeks to restore a Soviet or Russian empire.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Putin can move to expand the Union State of Belarus and Russia by adding all Moscow-backed breakaway territories, including the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People\u2019s Republics, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Putin may downgrade the Belarusian leader\u2019s status by treating him the same way as the leaders of the self-proclaimed entities.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t In 2024, Putin may declare himself leader of an enlarged Union State or some other mini-USSR.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u0141uka\u0161enka can hardly do anything to stop Putin from putting his plans into practice. He has been fully dependent on Moscow after the disputed 2020 presidential election and after he backed Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Now that \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s future, with successors or without, is in the Kremlin\u2019s hands, Belarus may never see a second president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction is allowed Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka, in his remarks during a recent tour of the S\u0142uck district, indicated that he did not see a successor he could trust. Fear of irreversible power transfer \u201cListen, we are not here forever. You\u2019ve got to have two or three persons behind to avoid embarrassment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11455","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u0141uka\u0161enka fears of power transfer to a successor | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction is allowed Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka, in his remarks during a recent tour of the S\u0142uck district, indicated that he\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11455\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u0141uka\u0161enka fears of power transfer to a successor | 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