Karbalevich: Lukashenka's Administration Comes Into Collision With Ministry Of Internal Affairs

Kachanava has actually disavowed Shunevich.

On May 23, the head of the Lukashenka administration, Natallia Kachanava, met with representatives of the local Roma diaspora in Mahiliou.

The reason for the conversation was the complaints about violations during the verification activities on the death of traffic police inspector Yauhen Patapovich voiced in the media, BelTA informs.

Natallia Kachanava apologized to representatives of the local diaspora for the situation. She promised that all complaints and appeals would be investigated.

As the TV channel Belsat previously reported with reference to the participants of the meeting in Mahiliou, there were also tablets with names of spokeswoman for Aliaksandr Lukashenka Natallia Eismant and Minister of Internal Affairs Ihar Shunevich on the table. But they were not present at the meeting and the tablets were soon taken away.

According to political analyst Valeryj Karbalevich, the situation looks unusual: "It's hard to remember that the authorities of the country apologize to a group of offended citizens.

At the same time, he stresses:

– In fact, the position of Lukashenka's administration has come into collision with the position of the Interior Ministry. Ihar Shunevich has categorically stated that the police were acting correctly, there were no violations. Kachanava, in fact, disavowed the Minister of Internal Affairs. And it would be one thing if it had happened behind the scenes, but both statements were made publicly.

Could this contradiction affect Shunevich's political fate? The political scientist reminds that the Minister of Internal Affairs has been criticized by the head of state before. His department often got into scandals, but he still runs it.

– I think that the authorities will limit themselves to these apologies. It is unlikely that the commanders, who gave orders during the detention of Roma, will be punished.

According to Valeryj Karbalevich, the reason for the forced apology was a huge resonance from the events in Mahiliou. This, in turn, was due to the independent media and social networks.

– The Internet makes the situation more transparent, the mistakes and flaws of the authorities become more and more noticeable. And the authorities have to react to this, especially on the eve of the election campaign. That is why, for the first time in the history of this regime, the authorities apologized publicly to a large social group.

The expert has stressed that the authorities have done it today not because the regime has become more liberal. It was the result of a new reality, when modern media change the situation.