Ihar Lenkevich, the author of Reform.by, shares his opinion on the new order of Lukashenka to punish management of HOA for damage caused by the protests. We quote the author’s words unchanged.
It is proposed to toughen the responsibility of the management of homeowners’ associations for the operation and safety of common property in Belarus. Another category of «cowards» has been found, who should be «rolled into traffic».
The management of the HOA and the «damage caused» were recalled today at a meeting with Alexander Lukashenka.
The authorities were pushed by the protests of 2020 to increase the responsibility of the management of the HOA. Let us recall that at that time, flags, white-red-white ribbons appeared, the lighting changed on many houses managed by homeowner associations in different districts of Belarusian cities. Lukashenka called all this «damage».
There was also a reference to the experience of Kazakhstan, which allows them to draw tough conclusions and act just as toughly to prevent such cases. It is impossible to compare the events in Kazakhstan with the Belarusian protests of 2020 even with a great reserve. Peaceful Belarusians with flowers in their hands did not smash a single store, kiosk, did not beat a single shop window. There was no seizure of buildings and airports. Belarusian protesters took off their shoes before climbing on a bench, which amazed the whole world. And the capital, fortunately, was not burned down. Sometimes it seems that the authorities regret it. Otherwise, the pressure could have been even stronger.
Well, frankly speaking, the NGOs are destroyed, independent media too. Even hospices and animal welfare societies have gone. And there’s no way to stop. Today, nine more people in Belarus are recognized as political prisoners by human rights activists. Now there are 982. The sad round figure of a thousand is within our grasp.
Now they have found a new category of «cowards» – the management of the HOA. They need to toughen the responsibility. The fear of seeing the «flag over the besieged fortress» again is too great. And all the authorities can do is tighten. There are no other tools for interacting with society and are not foreseen. The force scenario remains a priority.
You’ll come under a criminal article if they want to. White and red socks – picket, flag hung out – extremism. Words lose their original meaning. Extremism is generally understood as the unlawful use of force, violence, encroachment on the rights and freedoms of citizens. What’s with the flag in the window? If you hear the word «terrorism» in Belarus, it is probably not an armed attack, not a hostage-taking, but a can of paint thrown into an administrative building.
A separate line is dismissals for political reasons. «Dismissals, which began in 2020 and widely unfolded by the end of 2021, should be considered not only as revenge, the cleansing of unreliable ones on the eve of new political actions. The ban on the profession is also a special impact on society, its structure and condition. This is a social technology that leads society to a state in which it does not contradict and does not oppose the political system,» sociologist Tatsiana Vodolazhskaya describes these processes.
This is the essence of cruelty – to bring society to a state in which it does not contradict the system. We don’t even talk about «opposes». The justification for tough pressure will be Kazakhstan now. That’s what they got there – it end up in blood. It’s all because they did not stop it in time. Didn’t ‘strangle’. Didn’t put in prison or liquidate. These postulates will be exploited by state propaganda, trying to prove the legitimacy of the hell that is happening in Belarus today.
But if you plaster a person with all parts of the body, he will not be able to make any movements at all. Neither necessary authorities nor unnecessary ones. Complete paralysis. That’s where it goes. As for the tightening – well, in the emigration flow, the management of homeowners’ associations will be added to IT specialists, journalists, doctors and builders. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
This is a Belarusian-style pick up: the authorities out of the blue managed to get another category of the population «devotedly fall for them.» Who’s next?
Source: Reform.by
