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Mikalai Statkevich: It Is Essential To Get United And Create Government Of National Trust

Mikalai Statkevich: It Is Essential To Get United And Create Government Of National Trust

Belarus needs united opposition with strong leaders.

Life of Mikalai Statkevich will not fit into one book or script. He is known as a former presidential candidate, who spent five years in prison. But not everyone remembers that in 1991 Statkevich was the only officer who called for the military not to execute criminal orders of the State Committee on the State of Emergency and then became the actual "father" of the Belarusian army by initiating an oath of allegiance to Belarus.

According to Statkevich, today we must act as quickly and decisively - changes in Belarus can happen at any time.

The politician spoke about the challenges that the Belarusians will face in the near future and ways to overcome them in an interview with the chief editor of charter97.org Natallia Radzina.

- Mikalai, we are speaking on the anniversary of the events of December 19, 2010. In fact, you spent this entire time, the last five years in prison. Was the protest worth it then?

- Of course, I do not regret anything and would not have a second thought, if I had to make the decision to go back to the Square or not. If we do not defend our dignity, if we do not protest, then we gradually turn into scum. I want to respect myself and therefore I did what I had to do.

Of course, I'm very worried about the people who suffered during the crackdown who have been through administrative and criminal cases, but, unfortunately, freedom cannot be obtained without a struggle, suffering and sacrifice. And I think that people who went to the Square knew it was their choice. I bow my head in front of these people. They will not feel ashamed before their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. They did a decent thing. Thank you for this.

- Could the Belarusian Square repeat today?

- If the government does not make concessions on real political and economic reform - the Square is inevitable. We must now put pressure on the regime, both in Belarus and in a coordinated manner on the outside and inside the country to force the authorities to reform, because if we do not do it, the events could become unruly.

- For example?

- There will be a social explosion, when hungry people will come out to protest. It may even happen that members of the so-called "Russian world" will try to lead the protest. We have fought for decades, many are exhausted by this struggle, many of us have lost someone because to the repression and prisons had to leave Belarus, and the people of the so-called "Russian world" have been behind Lukashenka's back all these years, they held positions in the vertical of power, in power structures. And now, when they begin to consider him an enemy, they may attempt to lead any social protest.

They have an undeniable financial, material, political and possibly military support of Russia. This creates a very different picture of the possible future. Belarus is expected to have dramatic events, so the democratic political forces should unite and put forward bold leaders, capable of taking control of events in case of sharp changes.

- So again there is a choice, or rather its absence, between having Lukashenka or become another six regions of Russia?

- No. Lukashenka is a threat to independence. I recall that there was a time when he consciously wanted to surrender our sovereignty, hoping to obtain a post in the Kremlin, and when, in exchange for the Kremlin crown, he was not able to sell the independence, he began to sell it in parts, getting financial and political support and the guarantee of him staying in power. He created a one-sided, artificial economy, which depends on Moscow's subsidies. Essentially, this is now an unprofitable branch of the Russian economy.

Lukashenka received money in exchange for promises of integration, but the words were not enough, and he sold a gas pipeline and a television broadcast. But from the beginning he sold what seemed to him superfluous and unnecessary - our history and language. And now, suddenly, it turned out that the minor (in the eyes of this collective farm, ridiculous man, stuff like language, history, patriotism) are essential to ensure that Belarus survived as a state.

The dictator will fight for Belarus just like for his property, but will not die when the issue would be an edge. He will get his two billion dollars and leave for China or Singapore. Venezuela is now an unlikely destination for him.

- Even before the collapse of the Soviet Union you developed and published the concept of creation of the Belarusian army, then you publicly opposed the putsch in Moscow and announced the formation of "Belarusian military community". Behind the Lukashenka, as you put it, there were always people of the "Russian world". Was he against your ideas on the army reform from the very beginning?

- In 1989, at the Minsk Military School was established a small group of senior officers who also had PhDs. We analyzed the situation, and since I am not only a technical person, but used to work with man-machine systems and was engaged in social psychology, for me it was obvious that if the single ideology fails, the Soviet Union would disintegrate. The Army would try to keep this country together by the available methods - violence. It is what happened in Yugoslavia.

The Civil War in the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons, nuclear power and chemical industries would be a world-wide catastrophe. Therefore, we started to prepare the Belarusian society to the need to create its army.

In 1990 I prepared an article on the reform of the army, signing it with the name of my grandfather, who was shot in 1937 by the NKVD. The article under the pseudonym "Symon Harbavets" was published in the newspaper "Litaratura i Mastatstva". We entered into contact with the big politicians of the Supreme Soviet of XII convocation and I came out of hiding. I spoke about this topic in the newspaper "The Banner of Youth" (Znamya Yunosti), and then wider and wider, and when the putsch failed, there was created a "Belarusian military community".

But I risked a lot in 1991, when, thanks to my friend and journalist addressed on the radio to the military with an appeal not to use force against its own people and not to carry out orders of the putsch leaders. In the language of Soviet law that was called "undermining the country's defense," and it is covered by one of the provisions of the "treason" article. The military prosecutor's office immediately instituted criminal proceedings, and I could face an execution. After the defeat of the putsch, the case was closed.

Then we came to the parliament with a draft law on the establishment of the army, because it had to be done very quickly. We dragged the issue for five months longer than was necessary, and I blame this on a young Mahiliou candidate from one of the farms by the name of Lukashenka. I saw that he had an effect on other parliamentarians, and before the vote on the establishment of the Belarusian army I approached him and asked him to support our bill. Lukashenka looked at me, said nothing and passionately opposed the bill.

Only at the beginning of 1992 we were able to pass this law, Russia agreed to a division of the Soviet army, and we narrowly escaped the war. But the process was dragged by Lukashenka, who spoke contrary to national interests exposing us to the danger.

- My father - a retired military man - told me that he and his colleagues called the military oath of Belarus "the oath of Statkevich." It turns out that to a large extent you are the father of the Belarusian army?

- It is nice to hear. Even with the creation of the independent Belarusian army, the officers (80% of them were not from Belarus) refused to take the oath of allegiance to our country. New soldiers took the new oath, and the officers remained loyal to the Soviet one and said that this was enough.

We asked them, what if some other former Soviet republic attacked Belarus? After all, the oath is a legal act, which imposes criminal liability if the officer did not do his duty. In order to force the authorities to bring the army under oath, more than ten staff officers and several thousand reserve officers came at the Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus, on September 8, 1992 and publicly pledged allegiance to Belarus. After this the authorities had to make the army take an oath.

- What can you say about the army under the supreme command of Lukashenka?

- Unfortunately, this army was brought up not on Belarusian military traditions, it was brought up not in the spirit of devotion to Belarus, its history, its people. It was not brought up to be ready to repel aggression from any side. It was created as a branch of the Russian army.

And now, when Russia begins to behave unpredictably in relation to its neighbors, a question arises for Mr Lukashenka: what kind of army have you created? What kind of army did we feed? What will it do when "green men" appear here? Will it clear the way for them? All the patriots have been driven away, the army is without a history, but we have rich military traditions.

Army executes orders out of fear, because of patriotism or because of money. It is clear about the patriotism, although, of course, among the junior officers there are a lot of patriots of Belarus, but they do not define the underlying sentiment. As for the fear, Lukashenka, of course, is feared, but if there appears Putin, he is feared even more. As for the money, everyone knows that the Russian army pays much more. So what are the motives of this army to protect us? Why have we supported this army for so many years? For what?

- Is everything so hopeless, and there will be no patriots who, like you did at the time, will call on the Belarusian military not to act against their own people and country?

- You know, it is necessary to not just urge. It is necessary that the army could oppose the aggressor. And this is questionable, because the people who were certainly ready for this resistance have been expelled, destroyed, criminally prosecuted for years. Lukashenka somehow saw a threat in such people. But by destroying them, he also destroyed the state.

How can we call him a "guarantor of independence" after this? He is the enemy of independence. Lukashenka created this situation to buy a certain number of extra years in power. In my opinion, this man acted as a state criminal.

The situation is difficult, but not hopeless. As the experience of our neighbors, including Poland, has shown, the army of the new kind can be created in a relatively short time - there should only be a desire for it. First of all, it will be necessary to return the patriots to the service.

- Mikalai, you have always been at risk. You have recalled how in the early 1990s you could face death penalty, then you were put in prison on a number of times, and now, after five years in prison, you are again organizing mass protests. You cannot live without risk?

- I'm not an adrenaline addict, but a friendly and easy going person. But I have a strong sense of responsibility. Perhaps this is due to heredity. In the critical moments of our history, my ancestors took the initiative. Some were killed, but others came in their place. So it either a heredity, or a God-given quality.

- I see that you are again ready to take the lead. What are you going to do at this critical moment in our history?

- Belarus will experience dramatic events, because the model of the state, built by Mr Lukashenka is, in fact, very unstable and very vulnerable. The main threat comes from those on whom it depends, and the collapse of this model is inevitable.

The democratic patriotic forces must be ready for it. We are not talking about any ambition. We do not have a genuine presidential election, and I cannot become even a candidate for deputy of the village council - I have eight years of previous conviction. But the the patriotic forces must get united, they must act as a single entity, there should be people who are willing to take responsibility and act as a team.

- Who are you going to unite?

- We can come together through the Congress of Democratic Forces. In short, this long idea can be formulated ​in one sentence: "Without KGB agents and communists."

Although every democratic political structure has a trail of successes and failures, these people did not sit on the couch in front of the computer and did not fight in the comments section but tried to do something. Each can bring a benefit to the common cause. Everybody should unite on equal terms, let there appear informal leaders. This will be a strong movement with strong motivation.

At the Congress, we can offer some common view of the situation, the common attitude towards the closest political campaigns and present ourselves as a political subject in Belarus and as an international player. But most importantly, we will be one voice, and that voice will say to the Belarusian society, what to do when the situation changes dramatically.

These days I am meeting with the leaders of all democratic and patriotic pro-European organizations to be included in the organizing committee of the Congress. I want to name and publicly thank those who did not think twice and who is aware of the responsibility and is actively involved in the work.

A few days ago in Warsaw, I met with the leaders of the civil campaign "European Belarus", and we agreed with Andrei Sannikov on the coordination of domestic and international politics.

I also want to say thanks to Uladzimir Nyaklyayeu and Stanislau Shushkevich, who to some extent have been co-authors of the organizing committee - they reacted in the first hours and together we turned to the other leaders of democratic organizations. I want to thank Dzmitry Dashkevich, who supported the idea, Vyachaslau Siuchyk, Hennadz Fyadynich. All of them are worthy people, capable of acts and actions. This is a list of leaders that people can follow.

Now I am expecting a reply from colleagues from the new center-right coalition. It is good that there is created a union of the center-right, but it does not interfere with us. Do not think only about your ideology. Let's think about our Belarus and not share our love for her.

- Can you be a little more specific about the upcoming joint political steps?

- I think we have to work on several fronts. Of course, we are talking about the creation of alternative development programs for Belarus. What do we do with the economy? What do we do with foreign policy? What do we do with the security forces? We need to prepare. We may want to talk about the creation of the national council, which would serve as the shadow government - a government of national trust. Its achievements and projects should be widely discussed in society. This should involve people "from below" or, anonymously, people from the "top" of the ministries. It is necessary for the society to use discussion to understand what our country could become, if the normal leaders came.

We also need to use the existing political campaigns. Next year will be held the so-called parliamentary elections. I think it would be nice if the democratic patriotic forces had a common list of candidates for this election. But first, we must demand changes in the electoral legislation. If the government makes concessions - then we will prepare for elections. If the government does not make concessions, then let these candidates talk to people about the changes, that if they are rigged, it will be necessary to protest.

- There for sure will be rigging.

- Then a new Square should be organized.

- And why did the opposition boycot the presidential elections but intends to take part in the parliamentary ones?

- If there was a real presidential opposition candidate, who would call upon the people to defend their choice in the square, but not some fake figures, I'd have urged people to come to the polls, and then to the streets. But we did not have a candidate like this.

Our decision to ignore the elections was due to the fact that the authorities not only falsified the vote count and the contents of the ballots - they offered fake candidates who had the task to legitimize the "presidency" of Lukashenka. And they did it - all of them without exception.

- So you think that the only option to change the situation in the country is the Square?

- Yes, as long as there are no elections in Belarus, it is the only option. If the authorities do not make any concessions, then we have no other way. But, of course, we have to be very careful not to invite disaster.

During all the years of Lukashenka's rule, I remembered that we have the "Russian bear" breathe in the back of our neck. Of course, Russia gives us the potential to change the situation. It is getting deeper and deeper into the military conflicts and soon will come the time when the Russians will not care about intervention in our affairs. And then there will be a chance. Unless, of course, the today's authorities do not come to their senses and start to return, even in parts, what it stole from us - first of all elections.

- And if Moscow replaces Lukashenka?

- That's what I call a dramatic change in the situation. At this point there will inevitably be a destabilization of the government system. That's what the united opposition with strong leaders is needed for. The leaders will be required to immediately call upon the people to actively resist and take all measures to ensure that we do not get here another Lukashenka - even more loyal than this one.

We have not suffered these decades in vain, because the proportion of those who consider themselves Belarusians and supporters of independence in our society has grown consistently. When the "bear" sees here hundreds of thousands of people on the streets, ready to defend the country with arms in hand, it would have to leave to have a chance to save any relationship in the future. We will return the country to normal elections and a democratically elected parliament will determine how our country will develop.

The main thing helping us now is the price of oil, which is rapidly falling. Let us add the war in Ukraine, the military intervention in Syria, the conflict with Turkey - Russians are getting into the swamp from which they cannot escape.

For Belarus it would be best to have good relations with everyone and keep the Russian market, but not on the terms when we are required unconditional submission. Perhaps the story of recent years will teach Russia, and it will cease to prevent the neighbors from choosing their own path. But again I have to say: we must be cautious, carefully weigh the situation, but there are such a dramatic change, we will have no choice - we will respond.

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