Political Scientist: At Some Point, the Generals from the Security Council Will Want to Bring Closer the Hour of Acquiring These Colossal Powers

The authorities are playing a conspiracy against Lukashenka.

Lukashenka’s statement that he is preparing a decree on the transfer of presidential powers to the Security Council in case of his death has caused a stir and continues to resonate. On May 4, Belarusian Prime Minister Raman Halouchanka tried to explain to journalists why the announced decree on the “collective president” is needed. But it turned out not too convincing, political observer Aliaksandr Klaskouski writes in an article on the website naviny.online.

“We must be ready for any development of events, including on the grounds that are not laid down in the current version of the constitution: this is the possibility of physically eliminating the country's leadership,” Halouchanka said.

Yes, but in Article 89 of the Constitution of Belarus we find an exhaustive wording: “In the event of a vacancy of the presidency,” the powers are temporarily transferred to the prime minister. A vacancy can appear for any of a variety of reasons (died a natural death, was shot by a sniper, choked on a cherry bone, etc.), which are simply unthinkable to enumerate in the basic law.

The preparation of a force majeure decree can be perceived as a sign of nervousness, if not panic in the ruling elite. The average man will judge: probably, they are seriously jittery upstairs, assuming that there can be a lot of conspiracies (including real ones) and not too much hoping that the special services will figure them out.

A double-edged sword

With such a decree, if you think about it, the likelihood of a conspiracy actually increases. Where is the guarantee that at some point the generals (of whom there are many in the Security Council and may be even more) will not want to bring the hour of acquiring these colossal powers closer? And where is the guarantee that, on this basis, their interest will not overlap with the interest of Moscow?

Perhaps Lukashenka has already realized these risks. In any case, there is no decree yet, although, on April 24, the leader of the regime promised that he would sign the document in the coming days.

In any case, these rumblings with a decree, the fussy search for some kind of magic wand, surely lead the more or less thinking man in the street to a simple thought: if the ruler relies on a body with special powers, then it turns out that, in 26 years of rule, he has not created a reliable, full-fledged, normally functioning system of state institutions.

In general, the ruling elite and its propaganda are clearly playing into the story of the conspiracy and the escalation of the state of emergency against this background. As a result, what is supposed to be awe-inspiring causes in many people only sarcasm.