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Belarus referendum to proceed amid political crisis
November 23, 1996
Web posted at: 6:15 p.m. EST (11:15 p.m. GMT)MINSK, Belarus (CNN) -- Tensions between President Alexander Lukashenko and the parliament of this former Russian republic threaten to come to a head as the public votes Sunday on a referendum that would give Lukashenko almost absolute power.
The referendum vote will be held because of the failure of an agreement that had been signed Friday and brokered by Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Lawmakers had agreed to halt impeachment proceedings while Lukashenko had agreed that the referendum would be non-binding.
Lukashenko said Saturday he had canceled his half of the agreement after parliament failed to approve it late Friday despite his personal appeals. Parliament Speaker Semyon Sharetsky, who signed the agreement, accused the president of lying.
"The unconstitutional seizure of power is going on by the president -- a crime that must be punished," Sharetsky said.
Sharetsky reinstated impeachment moves while Lukashenko, addressing the nation of 10 million people on state television, presented the public a choice between anarchy and order.
"It is not a choice between president and parliament. It is a choice between chaos and anarchy on one side, and discipline, order and a change for the better on the other," Lukashenko said.
Outside the capital Minsk, political subtlety is lost for many amid a hard-scrabble existence.
Stanislav Viktorvich, a mechanic, is now unemployed, like 24 out of 25 residents of his village, Dubisha. Before Belarus' independence from Moscow, he earned close to 300 Russian rubles a month, and could take care of his family on 10 rubles a week.
"If people would only help the president, he could make things better," Viktorvich said.
The region has a strong historical bias toward a strong leader, said political analyst Andrei Kortunov.
"People are looking for obvious and easy solutions to their problems," Kortunov said.
"They understand that something has to be changed, and I think it is in the Russian tradition -- and probably the Belorusian tradition as well -- to rely on a good czar."
The constitutional court in Minsk, meantime, postponed until Tuesday a decision on an attempt by deputies to remove Lukashenko from office by impeachment.
In Moscow, military officials said all Soviet nuclear weapons formerly in Belarus are now in Russia -- the last of the warheads being shipped out shortly after Russian leaders mediated the Belarus political deal.
Correspondent Betsy Aaron, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Russia intervenes in Belarus' political fight - November 22, 1996
- Concern grows over Belarus power struggle - Novemeber 19, 1996
- Belarus government in turmoil coming up to referendum - November 18, 1996
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