Should regime be rescued?
Recently among the people mentioned in the oppositional discourse, the ideas like “we should talk with the regime, help them receive loans form the West” are propagandized more and more insistently, Lyavon Barshcheuski writes at the website of the Belarusian Popular Front party.
Why such things should be done? They say that otherwise…
– “…the regime would surrender Belarus’ independence”,
– “… our citizens would suffer from the economical crisis”,
– “…our people won’t understand the opposition,” and so on and so forth.
It means that such politicians offer to RESCUE… no, not the country’s sovereignty, not the interests of our citizens, but the REGIME.
Do not worry, dear sirs; the regime knows how to rescue itself better than we do. It in the same regime that once rescued itself when banned publishing anti-corruption report by Syarhei Antonchyk in most popular newspapers; when the legally elected parliament was deprived of “Narodnaya gazeta” by force.
It was rescuing itself when on April 12, 1995 overnight an order was made to brutally beat up deputies of the Belarusian Popular Front in the Supreme Soviet.
The regime was rescuing itself when wheeling-dealing referendums were held in 1995, 1996 and in 2004.
Hangmen in the government agencies were rescuing themselves, leaving the families of Yury Zakharanka, Henadz Karpenka, Viktar Hanchar, Zmitser Zavadski without breadwinners, and seizing freedom of Mikola Markevich, Viktar Ivashkevich, Paval Mazhejka, Paval Sevyarynets, Mikola Statkevich, Andrei Klimau, Mikola Astrejka, Alyaksandr Kazulin, Andrei Kim, Zmitser Dashkevich, Anton Kishkurna, for a long time…
The regime was rescuing itself adopting unconstitutional repressive acts against freedom of meetings, demonstrations, pickets, against freedom of expression.
The regime counted upon its immortality and indestructibility, when they forcibly changed school and university programs on history, literature, social science, expelled children and teachers of the Belarusian Humanities Lyceum, squeezed the European Humanities University into emigration.
It was rescuing itself, signing commitments to mass media in Minsk and Istanbul declaration with commitments to the world community.
It was rescuing itself selling oil, gas and raw materials to our enterprises at speculative prices, and gagged our intellectuals by millions of rubles from them not to take part in protest rallies in such a deceitful way.
The regime was looking for a way to rescue itself by expelling from educational institutions, firing and blacklisting hundreds and thousands of people only for daring to say aloud what they think.
It was rescuing itself by public sneering at the independent Union of Belarusian Writers, having reduced many of its members to indigence; by illegal imprisonment of Yury Khadyka, Alyaksei Marachkin, Valyantsin Holubeu, Yazep Yanushkevich, Ales Zhlutka; by malicious beating up of Radzim Haretski, Valery Mazynski, Adam Maldzis, Uladzimir Markhel…
Lick-spittles who can exist only near the trough were rescuing this regime, hitting on the face of Svyatlana Zavadskaya by a “brave man’s hand”, compelling young people to join the army though they are not able to serve because of their state of health.
And now it means that we should lend our shoulders to the regime and rescue THEM?!.. Now inept politicians in short trousers are asking: give these people money… for them not to perish. Help them, they are poor things, as Belarus won’t be able to exist without them: they are leaders of the state, and they allow us to sleep in our house… under the bench.
And maybe someday some of us would be kindly given a position with high salary in their “chamber” or at least invited for a soulful conversation and a cup of coffee with the editor-in-chief of the “correct” newspaper…
There is an old proverb: “While a fatty loses weight, a thin one starves to death”. A conclusion could be made: let us not allow the “fatty” (that is, the current regime) become attenuated by hunger, otherwise we all will kick the bucket. It is improper conclusion. “The fat boy” won’t lose weight anyway. And what about us? And we can accidentally kick the bucket, if we would listen to such advisors, certainly…
Lyavon Barshcheuski is the leader of the Belarusian Popular Front