BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

05/03/2006

Europe's last dictator

International Herald Tribune

There will be a presidential election in Belarus on March 19, and it will be a farce. Lest anyone had any doubt, Alexander Lukashenko, Europe's last dictator, on Thursday had his thugs brutally pummel one of his challengers, Alexander Kazulin, outside the All- Belarussian People's Congress, where Lukashenko was making dire threats against anyone who tries to start a "color revolution."

The reference, of course, is to the "orange revolution" that overturned a fraudulent election in neighboring Ukraine, and Lukashenko's display of brute force was doubtlessly intended to show his opponents that if they go into the streets, blood will flow. Kazulin, a former education minister and rector of the Belarus State University who has previously provoked confrontations at official events, was detained for eight hours and returned badly bruised but unbowed, declaring that the president had shown only that he is "extremely afraid of his own people."

Lukashenko is right to be afraid. Since he was elected president in 1994, he has flagrantly shoved Belarus back into the worst of Soviet times, restoring limitless powers - and its old name - to the KGB and crushing any opposition. The crowds that gathered at the police station to which Kazulin was taken indicate that more and more Belarussians are getting fed up with this tin-horn despot. The March 19 election could well become the moment at which they say, no more.

So it is imperative for the West to make it exceedingly clear, both to Lukashenko and to anyone in Russia who might be propping him up, that the world is watching closely. The U.S. national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, was right when he said that "there is not enough outrage and international attention on Belarus." A lot more outrage now could well prevent a lot more bloodletting later.

There will be a presidential election in Belarus on March 19, and it will be a farce. Lest anyone had any doubt, Alexander Lukashenko, Europe's last dictator, on Thursday had his thugs brutally pummel one of his challengers, Alexander Kazulin, outside the All- Belarussian People's Congress, where Lukashenko was making dire threats against anyone who tries to start a "color revolution."

The reference, of course, is to the "orange revolution" that overturned a fraudulent election in neighboring Ukraine, and Lukashenko's display of brute force was doubtlessly intended to show his opponents that if they go into the streets, blood will flow. Kazulin, a former education minister and rector of the Belarus State University who has previously provoked confrontations at official events, was detained for eight hours and returned badly bruised but unbowed, declaring that the president had shown only that he is "extremely afraid of his own people."

Lukashenko is right to be afraid. Since he was elected president in 1994, he has flagrantly shoved Belarus back into the worst of Soviet times, restoring limitless powers - and its old name - to the KGB and crushing any opposition. The crowds that gathered at the police station to which Kazulin was taken indicate that more and more Belarussians are getting fed up with this tin-horn despot. The March 19 election could well become the moment at which they say, no more.

So it is imperative for the West to make it exceedingly clear, both to Lukashenko and to anyone in Russia who might be propping him up, that the world is watching closely. The U.S. national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, was right when he said that "there is not enough outrage and international attention on Belarus." A lot more outrage now could well prevent a lot more bloodletting later.

There will be a presidential election in Belarus on March 19, and it will be a farce. Lest anyone had any doubt, Alexander Lukashenko, Europe's last dictator, on Thursday had his thugs brutally pummel one of his challengers, Alexander Kazulin, outside the All- Belarussian People's Congress, where Lukashenko was making dire threats against anyone who tries to start a "color revolution."

The reference, of course, is to the "orange revolution" that overturned a fraudulent election in neighboring Ukraine, and Lukashenko's display of brute force was doubtlessly intended to show his opponents that if they go into the streets, blood will flow. Kazulin, a former education minister and rector of the Belarus State University who has previously provoked confrontations at official events, was detained for eight hours and returned badly bruised but unbowed, declaring that the president had shown only that he is "extremely afraid of his own people."

Lukashenko is right to be afraid. Since he was elected president in 1994, he has flagrantly shoved Belarus back into the worst of Soviet times, restoring limitless powers - and its old name - to the KGB and crushing any opposition. The crowds that gathered at the police station to which Kazulin was taken indicate that more and more Belarussians are getting fed up with this tin-horn despot. The March 19 election could well become the moment at which they say, no more.

So it is imperative for the West to make it exceedingly clear, both to Lukashenko and to anyone in Russia who might be propping him up, that the world is watching closely. The U.S. national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, was right when he said that "there is not enough outrage and international attention on Belarus." A lot more outrage now could well prevent a lot more bloodletting later.

There will be a presidential election in Belarus on March 19, and it will be a farce. Lest anyone had any doubt, Alexander Lukashenko, Europe's last dictator, on Thursday had his thugs brutally pummel one of his challengers, Alexander Kazulin, outside the All- Belarussian People's Congress, where Lukashenko was making dire threats against anyone who tries to start a "color revolution."

The reference, of course, is to the "orange revolution" that overturned a fraudulent election in neighboring Ukraine, and Lukashenko's display of brute force was doubtlessly intended to show his opponents that if they go into the streets, blood will flow. Kazulin, a former education minister and rector of the Belarus State University who has previously provoked confrontations at official events, was detained for eight hours and returned badly bruised but unbowed, declaring that the president had shown only that he is "extremely afraid of his own people."

Lukashenko is right to be afraid. Since he was elected president in 1994, he has flagrantly shoved Belarus back into the worst of Soviet times, restoring limitless powers - and its old name - to the KGB and crushing any opposition. The crowds that gathered at the police station to which Kazulin was taken indicate that more and more Belarussians are getting fed up with this tin-horn despot. The March 19 election could well become the moment at which they say, no more.

So it is imperative for the West to make it exceedingly clear, both to Lukashenko and to anyone in Russia who might be propping him up, that the world is watching closely. The U.S. national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, was right when he said that "there is not enough outrage and international attention on Belarus." A lot more outrage now could well prevent a lot more bloodletting later.

Source:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/05/opinion/edbela.php

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