Special Powers Embezzled by "Parasite" Commissions

Lukashenka's regime is paralyzing itself.

In February Belarusians "not employed in the economy" will pay higher utility charges.

Meanwhile, the enrollment of citizens as "parasites" is increasingly questionable.

Thus, the Minsk commission of the Pershamaiski district decided to restore the base of "parasites" with those who were excluded from the list by the decision of the Council of Ministers and Decree No. : men with children under seven. The decision was made "after discussion".

Later independent journalists learned that executive committees had a plan of enrollment 5-8% of the adult population, depending on the district.

Mikhail Pastukhou, professor, honored lawyer, former judge of the Constitutional Court, and Aliaksandr Sasnou, former Minister of Labor of Belarus provide Charter97.org with comments on the situation with violation of laws by officials:

Mikhail Pastukhou: Once it was common for requisitioning of agricultural products

- Of course, this is arbitrariness of "parasite" commissions, which not only perform under Decree No. 1 and relevant acts of the Government and the Ministry of Labor, but also perform the role of "law makers".

From a legal point of view, it is clear that the principle of gender equality should apply: both women and men raising children under seven should be excluded from the database.

The arbitrariness of commissions not authorized to solve such law-making issues, is obvious.

Enforcers at the lowest level - district officials - perform as law makers and assume special powers. This is nothing but a substitution of the law with expediency.

It was practiced in times of the military communism.

- And how would you comment on possible "parasite" quota of 5-8% fixed for district executive committees?

- If this fact is confirmed, it's horrible. It looks like the return of lists once made up by the authorities on requisitioning of agricultural products and later on enemies of the people.

If the information received by journalists is reliable, it means a terrible arbitrariness and a grave violation of rights and freedoms of citizens. It's hard to believe, but this cannot be ruled out under the current government either. It shouldn't exist in a modern civilized country. These facts are subject to verification and I hope they will be investigated someday.

Aliaksandr Sasnou: It's a clinical case

- The very fact that the country's leadership has adopted the decree on "parasites" is at least bewildering. And the fact that local officials are moving in this direction is more of a clinical case.

- Don't you think that the decision of district officials is insubordination? After all, a completely different resolution on the "parasite" database was adopted by the Council of Ministers.

- People in power are very accustomed to impunity. They do not think over violation of any subordination or laws, mainly relying on caste solidarity. No competence is mentioned there.

District authorities do not obey the people, who can demand an answer in democratic countries. In Belarus, district officials act on the principle of mutual cover-up, fulfilling orders of the regional authorities, while they are obeying orders of the country's leadership. That's why, most likely, there was no insubordination here - the "my way or the highway" principle worked under the tacit consent of higher authorities.

The level of "competence" of members of commissions is that, most likely, they have not read the decree of the Council of Ministers or Decree No. 1 itself.

In the country with 90% of property owned by the state, and with a director of some primitive rural winery appointed by Lukashenka himself, nonsense is possible. Officials simultaneously eat out of top management's hands and make decisions contradicting instructions from above. There's neither sense nor motivation in their activities. Someday such a system will paralyze itself.

But regarding the situation with the decree on "parasites", I can say it's great that it is executed by such illiterate and incompetent local authorities. It's better for district officials to be unprofessional - so that they got confused and could not perform under, I'm sorry, this stupid decree.