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Discharge of The Minister

Discharge of The Minister
Valery Karbalevich

The change in the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has caused a significant stir not only in a politicized sphere.

First of all, the police play a much greater role in the life of society and the state under totalitarianism rather than under democracy. It helps to maintain a quarter-century curfew in the country. In addition, the Interior Ministry has been the most scandalous ministry of all the agencies of Belarus in recent years, and its former head, Ihar Shunevich, is the most odious figure in the already notorious Belarusian political horizon. Under this minister, the police have been subjected to more scandals than ever before.

Therefore, the issue on agenda is why the minister has been dismissed. I think it is not quite correct. First of all, because Ihar Shunevich headed the Interior Ministry for seven years. Heads of law enforcement agencies in Belarus, as a rule, do not stay in office for so long. Because these positions give them political weight, regardless of the actions of officials themselves. And it poses a danger to the head of the personalist regime.

Secondly, given the numerous scandals in the Interior Ministry, it would have been more appropriate to put the question differently. Why did Shunevich stay in office for so long? Why was he so unsinkable?

I guess the unpopularity of the Interior Ministry and its leadership among the population is even good for Lukashenka. According to authoritarian logic, if the people do not like the police, the latter will be more zealous to protect the existing regime and its leader neglecting legal and moral issues. After all, if the unlimited right of the police to severely punish everyone, regardless of their guilt, is questioned, the authoritarian model will be undermined. Therefore, the instinct of self-preservation of the system works.

Ihar Shunevich tried to be a public minister as much as possible in Belarus. He turned to self-promotion. Lukashenka does not like such officials, because, as you know, there is only one politician in Belarus, and he does not tolerate competition. But the ruler forgave Shunevich. Not only because the former minister was devoted. The fact is that Shunevich tried to put the carriage before the horse, i.e. he guessed Lukashenka's secret desires, did things what Lukashenka could afford only in small doses due to political correctness. The minister knows that Joseph Stalin is a positive character for our head of state, that is why he wore the uniform of the NKVD commissioner. Given Lukashenka's negative attitude towards sexual minorities, the relevant comments appeared on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

I think the last nail in Shunevich's career was the tragic death of Jauhen Potapovich, a traffic policeman from Mahiliou and the "gypsy raid" that followed. The police went too far, and their actions affected the authority of the highest echelons. The former minister strictly refused to admit the guilt of his department. Lukashenka, appointing a new Interior Minister Yury Karayeu, recalled this episode and negatively assessed Shunevich's actions. "Don't act as it happened to the Gypsies. People were offended for nothing. One should apologize. It was too much. If you know that they are not to blame, you should just apologize to them". As a result, the head of Lukashenka's administration, Natallia Kachanava, had to go to Mahiliou and apologize on behalf of Lukashenka. This is an unprecedented story for Belarus. That is, the head of state has to cover up shameful cases of the police with his authority. It cannot be forgiven.

However, no matter how guilty Shunevich is, it's not a reason to change the minister 10 days before the II European Games. It would be reasonable to wait for one month until these sports competitions are over.

In my opinion, his resignation wasn't planned beforehand. On June 10, Lukashenka set tasks for the minister and explained how the Interior Ministry should work during the II European Games. And three hours later, at 14.22, BelTA reports that Ihar Shunevich is dismissed. It can be assumed that during Lukashenka's conversation with the minister, something unexpected happened. It gave ground for Lukashenka to deliver a drastic personnel decision. After all, why did he set tasks before the minister?

And a certain stupor of the state mass media is suspicious. The official website of Lukashenka still contains information about tasks set to Interior Minister Shunevich. On June 10, BT TV channel broadcasted the same story, recorded in the first half of the meeting. The head of state gives instructions to the minister, who is no longer the minister at the time of the broadcasting. It's complete surrealism. It illustrates the activity of state media in a non-free country. Since the new directive has not appeared, they show old stories that do not meet the reality. This is another proof that Shunevich's resignation was not planned. Therefore, state media were not prepared for fast-moving situations.

But this fascinating film is not over. Again, it seems, for the first time in the modern Belarusian history, the disgraced official himself was the first to inform about the resignation. This is not typical for Belarus. Our ministers have no freedom of will. Lukashenka does not ask for the consent of an official when appointment or dismissal. All personnel decisions of Lukashenka are made with reference to the press service of the head of state or the official decree of Lukashenka. And there is an unprecedented case - the former minister himself announced his resignation. How could he do that? The one who feels like God decides on people's fates.

A new Interior Minister Yury Karayeu was appointed the next day after dismissal of the previous minister. After all, the Ministry can't be beheaded before the II European Games.

The new minister attracts attention. This is the fifth head of the Interior Ministry, who does not come from Belarus. If it happens once, it can be considered a casual occurrence. But it's regularity when people from other regions of the former Soviet Union have been appointed Minister of Internal Affairs for the past 20 years. Apparently, Lukashenka considers such people more loyal to him.

Valery Karbalevich, Svobodnye Novosti

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