Moscow newspaper finds Lukashenka’s successor

The Russian newspaper Versiya published an article, naming a certain Siargej Karakin as a possible replacement for the Belarus president. The author wrote that this man had been recently invited to the Kremlin for a meeting with influential Russian officials.

The newspaper also quoted the Belarusian journalist Sviatlana Kalinkina who was interviewed as an expert. Sviatlana has shared with the European Radio for Belarus about her part in the story.

“The quote in Versiya was taken from my commentary, in which I said that the people in Moscow were ripe for taking the transits through Belarus under their control. But, they have not grown ripe yet for the change of power in this country.

This is the main mistake of the Moscow-based experts, who think that the situation in Belarus can be resolved somehow in its own way. In my view, if they are to start looking for a replacement, they will be doing it among the nomenclature, not the opposition,” she said.

But, who is Siargej Karakin? We have tried to search for a mysterious replacement. The mobile telephone database has only two people with the similar names.

Unfortunately, one number was non-existent. The other number was permanently unavailable. The European Radio for Belarus turned to Internet. The search results showed that Siargej Karakin could be found in Russia and Ukraine. The Russian is a movie actor, while the Ukrainian is a famous chess player.

Then, we used the information in Versiya regarding the participation of Siargej Karakin in the 2001 presidential campaign in Belarus as a staff member of Uladzimir Gancharyk’s campaign team.

“There was no Karakin. I can assure you because I knew all who worked in the campaign headquarters. Perhaps, he was in Russia and I could not know him. But, even there I did not know anyone under this name,” said Valiancina Palevikova, the former manager of Gancharyk’s presidential campaign.

In the view of Gancharyk, Moscow is just looking for a pro-Russian replacement for Lukashenka.

“I think that Moscow made a strategic mistake in the sense that they should have thought about a politician who would have healthy relations with Russia.

Lukashenka is currently playing alone in this field. In 2001, there were discussions in Moscow about the alternative candidates to Lukashenka.

But, it did not take place during the previous relations. Now it is simply a publicity move,” Gancharyk said.

Probably, the newspaper has misspelled the last name, meaning Siargej Kaliakin, the chairman of the Party of Communists of Belarus?

“I have a bad attitude to the yellow press. I never take seriously the nonsense that they often write, especially the version suggested in this newspaper. Firstly, it has an obscure context. Secondly, it cannot be real.

Nobody in Moscow can select a replacement. The only thing that I can state with confidence is that Russia will be attentively watching the developments in Belarus. It is very important for Moscow to have a successor that would take into account the strategic interests of Russia,” Kaliakin said.

Political commentator Andrey Suzdaltsev, deported from Belarus last year, believes that the Belarusian secret services “are carrying out a special operation against the leader of Communists, Siargej Kaliakin. The Russian newspaper has served as a cover only, he said.

Thus, it does seem like there has been a campaign of finding a successor to the Belarusian president.

FILE
Mikhail Miasnikovich was called as the first possible replacement for the current president. After this information was leaked, Lukashenka fired him from the post of the chief of presidential office and sent him to an exile at the National Academy of Sciences. There were also rumors about Prime Minister Siargej Sidorski and Deputy Chief of Presidential Office Natallja Petkevich as possible successor. But, experts believe that Lukashenka’s son Viktar who entered the Belarus Security Council early this year is looked at as the main successor to the Belarusian president.

Looking for a presidential successor is a popular game in Russia, where everyone is guessing who is going to replace Vladimir Putin.

No wonder, as the presidential elections in Russia will take place in 2008. But, the Russian realities in the situation about the successor are not acute for Belarus.

Sviatlana Kalinkina thinks that by 2011, the year of the next presidential elections, Belarus will be faced with the need to pay back to Russia.

By that moment, the realities of life will have prepared our people for the thought that the living conditions will deteriorate under the existing authorities.

So, Lukashenka has to either improve or find a replacement by himself. Otherwise, he will have to agree with a candidature, showed to him in Moscow.

Photo by www.hhg.