Political Analyst: Lukashenko's Deck Contains Only Shabby And Speckled Cards

The situation is best characterized not by appointments, but by the potato situation.

Lukashenko has made significant reshuffles in his nomenclature. The ruler moved Natalya Petkevich from the position of first deputy head of his administration to the post of deputy prime minister. She replaced Vladimir Karanik, who went to run the Academy of Sciences, and Vladimir Pertsov stepped up to take her place from the position of mere deputy head of administration. In the government, Petkevich will oversee the social block. Along with Petkevich, ex-KGB and Investigative Committee head Valery Vakulchik, who was appointed head of the Government Apparatus, has been sent to the government.

What do these reshuffles indicate? The site Charter97.org spoke with political scientist Anatoly Kotov:

- Lukashenko is dissatisfied with the results his administration is showing. And also this is plugging the holes that appeared after the previous appointments.

The Council of Ministers has not had a deputy prime minister for social security for some time. This hole had to be plugged. There was no chief of staff. If we talk about the Academy of Sciences, there are no results of scientific activity there at all.

On the one hand, this is an attempt to correct something, and on the other hand - to plug the personnel holes that were formed during the previous appointments. It's not quite normal when quite high positions in the Belarusian regime remain vacant for a long time.

- Natalia Petkevich was appointed Deputy Prime Minister. Why was this appointment necessary?

- This is one of those appointments that are rather forced. There was no deputy prime minister for social work; Lukashenko has complaints about the way the Belarusian cinematography and sports function. This was pointed out at the meeting.

A proven cadre was sent to a formal demotion. It is necessary to close these issues by those people whom Lukashenko trusts. This is the appointment of his own person to the Council of Ministers.

The same can be said about the appointment of Vakulchik. These are two people who will tacitly control the work of the government.

- What is the reason for Vakulchik's return? After all, after 2020 he was exiled to Brest region.

- It is a coincidence of several factors. There was no chief of staff, he was transferred to another position. For some reason Lukashenko wants to appoint a man with a military background, a disciplined man.

Vakulchik demonstrates his loyalty and, one could say, some efficiency in terms of management and control of the spheres entrusted to him. That is why, probably, Lukashenko thought that he was the best candidate for a rather high position in the Belarusian bureaucracy. He is an experienced person. Therefore, I would say that, probably, from the point of view of personality and some qualities, from the point of view of the Belarusian regime, it will be more than the chief of staff of the Council of Ministers.

- Vladimir Karanik was actually pushed to the shadowy position of the head of the National Academy of Sciences. Has he fallen into disgrace?

- My opinion is that this is a forced appointment, taking into account the fact that they have repeatedly tried to check the effectiveness of the National Academy of Sciences, which in more or less objective reports should oscillate around zero, if not go to the plane of negative values, because there were many promises - a vaccine, an electric car. They appear at everyone, at anyone, except Belarus.

Even if we compare it with the world competition, it is quite a serious lag. Most likely, they just wanted to dismiss Gusakov for his negative merits, and appointed a person whom Lukashenko trusts, who understands something about science, unlike other officials.

Pertsov's return to Lukashenko's administration means that Radkov's clan continues to be important for the dictator, even increasing its influence. However, we should not expect anything positive from this reshuffle for the promotion of something Belarusian in the sphere of culture and information. Creeping Russification and Sovietization will be continued.

There are no new faces. This is a shuffling of an old deck, where the cards are not just speckled, but decrepit. It's even hard to call anything a promotion or a demotion. The situation is best characterized not by appointments, but by the situation with potatoes, which cannot be influenced by reshuffling the apparatus. The regime is unable to respond to any challenges, including those of a natural nature.

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