Alexander Lukashenko - Domestic Policy

Domestic Policy

Lukashenko promotes himself as a "man of the people." Due to his style of rule, he is often informally referred to as бацька (bats'ka, "daddy"). He was elected chairman of the Belarusian Olympic Committee in 1997. During a televised address to the nation on 7 September 2004 Lukashenko announced plans for a referendum on whether to eliminate presidential term limits. This was held on 17 October 2004, the same day as parliamentary elections, and, according to official results, was approved by 79.42% of voters. Previously, Lukashenko had been limited to two terms and thus would have been constitutionally required to step down after the presidential elections in 2006. Opposition groups, the OSCE, the European Union, and the United States State Department have stated that the vote "fell significantly short of international standards." An example of the failure, cited by the OSCE, was the pre-marking of ballots.

At the outset, Lukashenko wanted to rebuild Belarus when he took office. The economy was in freefall, due to declining industry and lack of demand for Belarusian goods. Lukashenko kept many industries under the control of the government and privatization was slowed down. Since 2001, Lukashenko wanted to improve the social welfare of his citizens and to make Belarus "powerful and prosperous". In addition, throughout the years of Lukashenko's rule, the average salary in Belarus is much lower than that of any neighboring country. In response to a question about Belarus's domestic policies, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela said "We see here a model social state like the one we are beginning to create." Chairman of the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress Wu Bangguo noted that Belarus has been rapidly developing under Lukashenko. Lithuanian MPs have also praised the Belarus economy and its contribution towards Lithuanian economy, Stanislovas Gedraitis said that he was in awe of the Belarusian progress created mostly by the efforts of the state leader.

Some critics of Lukashenko use the term Lukashism to refer to the political and economic system Lukashenko has implemented in Belarus. The term is also used more broadly to refer to an authoritarian political ideology based on a cult of his personality and nostalgia for Soviet times among certain groups in Belarus. It is not known where the term was first used, though the earliest documented use was in 1998. The use was in the context of opening a museum to memorialize victims of Communism with a wing dedicated to Lukashism. The term has been used mostly by groups who oppose Lukashenko, such as Zubr.

Lukashenko continues to face domestic opposition from a coalition of opposition groups supported by the United States and Europe. The United States Congress has sought to aid the opposition groups by passing the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 to introduce sanctions against Lukashenko's government and provide financial and other support to the opposition.

Those who support Lukashenko claim that his rule has spared Belarus the turmoil that has beset many other Soviet countries.

Lukashenko himself commented about the criticism on him by saying: "I've been hearing these accusations for over 10 years and we got used to it." Before the polling he said: "We are not going to answer them. I want to come from the premise that the elections in Belarus are held for ourselves. I am sure that it is the Belarus people who are the masters in our state." He warned that anyone joining an opposition protest would be treated as a "terrorist", adding: "We will wring their necks, as one might a duck".