Maxim Guchek
Lukashenko signed a corresponding decree on Sunday, according to a communication. The document also provides that a state of emergency or even martial law could be imposed in Belarus if the 66-year-old is no longer able to perform his office. He has come under massive criticism because of last year’s presidential election, which is widely considered to be falsified, and the brutal action taken by security forces against peaceful demonstrators.
Lukashenko himself chairs the National Security Council, in which members of the government and the military are represented. Lukashenko’s eldest son Viktor is also on the committee. It is speculated that the 45-year-old should be placed as a possible successor to his father.
After the election on August 9th last year, hundreds of thousands of people called for Lukashenko’s resignation and new elections. The autocrat had been declared the election winner with 80.1 percent of the vote, but the opposition sees Svetlana Tichanovskaya as the true winner. The EU no longer recognizes Lukashenko as president and has imposed sanctions. The demonstrations resulted in tens of thousands arrests, hundreds injured and several dead. Recently, people only occasionally dared to take small protests on the streets.