Stanislau Shushkevich: Chairman Of Haradziets State Farm Still Cannot Pretend To Be Intellectual

If we had fair elections, Lukashenka would not have been there for long.

For a quarter of a century, the country is headed by one person. What path has it traveled, what are the achievements and the losses? BelGazeta, together with the first head of independent Belarus Stanislau Shushkevich, recalls the most critical moments in the country's recent history and summarizes the 25-year reign of Lukashenka.

- Why did the chairman of the state farm Haradziets go to politics in the first place? Back then, villagers didn't need to be distracted by such nonsense - it was necessary to survive every day ...

- At that time it was fashionable to go into politics - with the help of deputy status, much could be changed. In general, they went there for two reasons: for money and for real estate. Although there was a time when it seemed that people were going into politics to change the situation, the order that existed in the Soviet Union.

You know, I, too, became the victim of the jokes of my friends, who nominated me as a candidate for people's deputies of the USSR: one day, I promised not to withdraw my candidacy, and the next day at the university by secret ballot they elected me as a candidate for deputy. I had six competitors: five decent, one - a pure scoundrel. But I met very good people and realized that something useful could be done. We were led by impulses to transfer power to decent hands, to live by the law.

I think a similar situation happened with Lukashenka. Therefore, it is not surprising that the chairman of the state farm went into politics. By the way, he was not the best leader, and his colleagues and party comrades said that he did not get along with people.

LUKASHENKA OUTPLAYED HIS CREATOR

- Could you have assumed in 1994 that a little-known CEO of a state farm would win over many reputable candidates?

- It was a very peculiar game, peculiar to people in near-government circles who were engaged in intrigues. I highly appreciated Prime Minister Kebich, who seemed to me an educated businessman, I trusted him more than the others. And he seemed to trust me. When the two of us were running for the post of the chairman of the Supreme Council, I gained 40 votes more than Kebich, but we both lacked a majority of votes. And then he withdrew his candidacy in my favor. Therefore, I considered Kebich a very worthy man and was sincere with him.

It turned out though that he really wanted to become president and saw me as his main competitor. He couldn’t act against me directly, so he presented all sorts of rubbish to Lukashenka, and he used this “compromising material” as he could. As the Russian academic Likhachev said, you can pretend to be anyone, but you cannot pretend to be an intellectual. So Lukashenka still cannot pretend to be an intellectual - the lack of intelligence is spreading from him, along with the disrespect for those who surround him, public reprimands of subordinates - in a word, kolkhoz methods.

So, Kebich wanted to remove me as a competitor with Lukashenka’s hands. He removed me, but did not notice how he had raised a new one. I was accused of corruption because I ordered some small things at normal state prices, including the famous “box of nails”. As a result, Lukashenka outplayed his creator, although the whole apparatus seemed to be working for the incumbent Prime Minister Kebich.

- So, Lukashenka is Kebich's project?

- No. This is not the result of a well-thought Kebich project. He understood: having eliminated me, he had at his disposal the entire state apparatus. But there were some good guys in Lukashenka’s team, who thought he was poorly educated, easily controlled: they are the brain, and he is the will power, the hands. There was a clear miscalculation: Hannchar, Liabedzka, Sinitsyn, and Bulakhau worked for Lukashenka.

THEY COULD HAVE PRESSED IMPEACHMENT TO THE END

- One of the most critical stages in the history of independent Belarus is the counterstand between the Supreme Council and Aliaksandr Lukashenka in the autumn of 1996. What caused the impeachment of the president, and why he was not brought to a logical end?

- The idea arose, and it could be brought to its logical conclusion. The deputies collected more than 70 signatures, which were enough for the impeachment, but some hesitated. Take, for example, Sheiman: he never really even spoke, although he had more medals than Brezhnev. A number of deputies turned out to be low-class people: when a threat arose over Lukashenka, it would be very bad for them, their team would have been defeated. Therefore, those who hesitated were mollified with apartments. Let's face it, what chairman of the Constitutional Court Tsikhinya, and chairman of the Supreme Council Sharetski did wasn’t really a decent thing : Sharetski presented the list to Tsikhinya, and the latter gave it to Lukashenka. Thus, those who hesiated the most were figured out.

UNION STATE IS A USELESS THING

- Is it not from that moment that Lukashenka started the game with the Union State, trying to get the Monomakh's cap?

- I have never concealed my craving for Europe. Today I am convinced: we must follow the European path. Today, out of 10 million people in Belarus half a million are beggars, or 5%, while in Russia, out of 145 million - 20 million people, or more than 10%, live below the poverty line. It is difficult to achieve justice in such a big country, and we historically belong to Europe. But at the same time I have never been a Russophobe. From time to time I became a Kremlinfobe, but never a Russophobe. My wife is Russian, by the way.

And Lukashenka declared everyone to be the enemies of Russia, him being its only friend. The whole circus with digging up a pole stuck on the border with Russia at night is nonsense. The “union state” brings more difficulties - this is a sinecure for idlers, where nothing needs to be done and nothing needs to be answered for. If I fly from Minsk to Seoul, then I handed over my baggage in Minsk, and in Seoul I received it, and if I fly from Seoul to Minsk (through Moscow), then I have to get my baggage in Moscow, go through customs clearance. And there are many such things: it's easier for me to fly through Istanbul to avoid all sorts of misunderstandings.

- And who came up with the “union state” idea?

- Perhaps, Lukashenka himself invented it. The “union state” is a completely useless thing. We have signed an agreement on friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation with Russia - within its framework it is necessary also to solve all issues between the countries. By the way, the Bielavezha agreement states: if we become independent, the borders remain open to citizens and information. The last one sounds ridiculous today: what are the borders for information in the Internet age?

According to the Bielavezha agreement, Minsk was declared the focal point of the CIS. Lukashenka, pleasing Russia, gave the economic committee to Moscow. And the economic committee is the basis. Lukashenka turned to Moscow again, and all our achievements in favor of independence went down the drain. And now the CIS apparatus is actually a secretariat for organizing meetings, a technical apparatus, without real sense.

- Let's try to sum up the 25-year reign of Lukashenka. What has Belarus become?

- If a manager cares about people, then first of all, you need to care about the well-being of the people, about their wealth. Today in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the salary is three and a half times higher than in Belarus. And we started from better positions, and if we acted on the principle of Balcerovich’s “shock therapy,” like the Poles, we would have already achieved a lot. I had a desire to increase the well-being and wealth of the majority of the population, while Lukashenka has one desire - to strengthen his power. Power gives you the opportunity to forget the difference between your pocket and the state budget, and other benefits.

- For the sake of objectivity: what positive things did Lukashenka do for the country?

- He answered this question himself: now it’s better than after the war. After all, Lukashenka wanted to create a “union state” to become the head of Russia. In Belarus, such a scenario could have passed through an intrigue with Kebich, but to imagine Lukashenka at the head of Russia is simply unthinkable.

- What mistakes, unlike Lukashenka, would you never make as the head of state?

- There should be no state control over the activities of the government, which can only work according to the law. If you want to improve the situation in the economy or with freedom of speech, you must submit proposals to the Parliament, which will amend the laws if it is necessary. And our entire life activity is regulated by presidential decrees.

-What threats does Belarus face today?

- The threat is very simple: Putin will do everything he wants here. If he presses harder - Lukashenka will have no other position than the official surrender of independence, or integration with Russia. The country is already in debt, and we will die if we cannot restructure them.

Belarusians have one remarkable quality - an ability to survive, which now, unfortunately, is already acquiring a negative meaning - to tolerate something indecent. However, literate youth is growing, there are smart people in power who will resist long-term harassment. I am an optimist and I think that the wait is not long. If we had fair elections, Lukashenka would not have been president for such a long time. And I hope that after all we will live to see fair elections.

- They often say, Lukashenka is a great politician, if he has been in power for 25 years.

- I will answer with the words of Machiavelli: the retention of power by any means is unworthy of a decent politician.