“Brave Belarusians Managed to Unite and Forced Lukashenka to Resign”

An action guide to deprive the dictator of his remaining power.

Lukashenka resigned from the post of "president" of the National Olympic Committee (NOC). More precisely, he was forced to leave. Lukashenka headed the NOC for 23 years: it was his favorite toy, a powerful propaganda tool, and the opportunity to travel to countries where he would not have been allowed otherwise. And despite all this, now he is forced to leave his post. Let's analyze why it happened and what it means, the Puppeteer and the Sheep Telegram channel writes.

If you remember, in August-September there was a large-scale movement of Belarusian athletes who took the side of the people. For the Lukashists, this was a very painful surprise. After all, athletes have always been considered adult children, dependents around the neck of the state. Even in a nightmare, Lukashenka could not imagine that the athletes, it turns out, can have their own opinion at all. Moreover, these were not a few unknown athletes, but thousands, among whom were the most titled and famous Belarusian athletes.

Most of the significant Belarusian athletes turned out to have guts. They created their own organization, collected numerous facts of political persecution by the NOC, and established contacts with international organizations. That is, the athletes showed themselves in the same way as the majority of Belarusians: active and ready to fight people.

Lukashenka's regime, with its characteristic "delicacy," The Lukashenka regime, with its characteristic "delicacy", did not hesitate at all to massively and openly repress athletes for their civic position. And this is already a gross violation of the Olympic charter. The IOC, like any international organization, does not like scandals and prolongs the decision-making process for a long time. But the crimes of Lukashenka and the NOC headed by him are so obvious and large-scale that it is no longer possible to turn a blind eye to them.

A very sad prospect loomed before the Belarusian NOC. With a high degree of probability, athletes who have decided to stay at the regime trough will not be able to compete under the red-green flag - instead, there will be an Olympic banner. At the same time, honest athletes of Belarus, excluded from the national team for their position, will also be able to compete under the same Olympic flag. That is, a situation is possible when two teams from Belarus will compete. And given that there are more top athletes among the honest than among the regime ones, any competition could end up in a reputational disaster for Lukashenka. Therefore, Lukashenka was forced to leave the NOC.

It is important to understand that Lukashenka’s resignation is not enough for the IOC to reconsider its views on the situation in Belarus. Mass repressions against athletes have already been committed, the heads of the federations, who directly committed official crimes in their places, are not reinstating anyone in the national teams. Leaving one person will not help here. Based on this, we believe that the main motivation for Lukashenka's resignation is an attempt to avoid reputational losses.

The situation is such that sport is turning from an important propaganda tool into a place where Lukashenka expects nothing but public defeats (as was the case with the World Ice Hockey Championship). Here is the former ruler and quits what he ruined. In our opinion, this obviously pathetic and cowardly attempt to shift the responsibility for his own mistakes will no longer save his reputation. Each subsequent humiliation on the fields of international sports organizations will be unambiguously perceived as a personal defeat for Lukashenka. For too long he ascribed to himself the laurels of the main "spartsmen" of the country.

Conclusion: brave active Belarusians managed to unite and, having passed a long thorny path, forced Lukashenka to resign from the presidency out of fear of retribution for reprisals. Sounds great. Sounds like a guide to deprive Lukashenka of remaining power.