Belarusian Authorities Daze the World Again

During the pandemic, an emergency government meeting discussed yesterday's snow.

The coronavirus epidemic has shown that no institution works in the country. The head of the Ministry of Health, occasionally talking to the media, only flutters eyelashes. The Ministry of Education is unable to recognize the importance of quarantine in schools and kindergartens. By the will of cowardly officials, children become the most active carriers of the virus, threatening the lives of their beloved grandparents. The Ministry of Culture easily issues permits for concerts and refuses to close theatres and exhibitions that become incubators of the virus. The Ministry of Sport forces children to participate in ice hockey tournaments. All agencies carefully hide the real number of infected people, which is undoubtedly growing steadily.

The border closure with Russia has become a complete surprise to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. What are the Customs and Border Committee doing, besides the fact that their employees carefully weigh and search "smuggled" products and imported drugs?

Everything is clear with the law enforcement agencies: they have long forgotten about their direct duties while serving the interests of the owner. In my opinion, they should be ashamed to call themselves officers.

Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, the National Bank? There are no tax holidays for business or delays in loan payments, as normal countries do! All international institutions, including the World Bank, are making apocalyptic predictions about the prospects of Lukashenka's economy today. Only a lazy economist is not talking about the impending collapse of the Belarusian ruble. Against this background, information that Lukashenka's family is starting to withdraw money from the country looks quite credible.

I won't say anything about the Ministry of Industry. According to the last decree, their tractors should treat us for coronavirus, as it's already impossible to sell them anywhere. Bellegprom, judging by the fact that it is unable to sew even gauze masks under sanitary standards, does not deserve even an epitaph.

Yesterday, for instance, Lukashenka held the meeting with the government and all "governors". Not a word was said about the pandemic, which is discussed daily by governments all over the world, trying to do their best to stop the spread of the virus and save as many citizens as possible. However, on the eve, he said that any virus could be defeated with labour and vodka. No minister resigned in protest, although it is clear that the head of state is an inadequate ruler whose actions could lead to the loss of many human lives.

The collapse of the state is obvious. There's actual powerlessness in the country. In crisis conditions, the current government with its yes-men is not an administrative body.

So why does the dictator stubbornly refuse to introduce quarantine? Probably because he considers us slaves. Slaves do not deserve quarantine - they either work or die.

However, he fell flat on face: more and more people refuse to take their children to schools and kindergartens, demand remote work from their employers, refuse to visit crowded places. Shopping malls, fitness clubs, concert halls and theatres are empty, and even the subway points out at a sharp drop in passenger traffic. Saving their lives, people go to quarantine, not waiting for authorization from above.

We are all in the same boat today - poor pensioners, quite successful entrepreneurs under the dictatorship, and a wide forced class of state employees, even officials and law enforcers. Everybody has children and elderly parents. Everybody needs help in domestic hospitals with their lack of equipment, medicines and qualified personnel. Germany and Israel are already closed.

They say that the world will drastically change after the pandemic. They say it's for the better. People will start to appreciate the things they used to take for granted. They will realise the power of reciprocity and solidarity. It is questionable whether Belarus can change.

Natallia Radzina, editor-in-chief of Charter97.org

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