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On Thursday, the State Audit Office Committee announced a search at the Belgazprombank commercial bank, which Viktor Babarika, who has been in office since the mid-2000s, resigned last month. The searches are alleged to be carried out in the course of a criminal case of tax evasion and money laundering.
On Friday Belsat announced that Vladimir Dudarev, chairman of the Babarika initiative group in Mogilev, had been arrested. Sergei Karmyzov, head of the branch of the Belgazprombank commercial bank in this city, was also arrested.
Scores of bankers linked to Babarika were reportedly arrested on Friday.
Babarika condemned the ongoing searches as an attempt to “pressure him” and promised to continue the fight.
AFP / Scanpix photo / Belgazprombank
Lukashenko is afraid of competition?
Similar allegations have been made against candidate for candidate Valery Capkala, who worked on Lukashenko’s team, and opposition leader Sergei Tichanovsky, who attracted hundreds of people to the protests.
Belarusian freelance journalist Francis Vyachorka called the steps of the regime on Facebook “repression against the Belarusian opposition” and said authorities did not wait for the massive street protests and the registration of candidates.
“Obviously, these searches and intimidations are intended to scare people and prevent future protests. It seems that Lukashenko knew the actual numbers of support from the electorate and tried to eliminate the most popular candidates. It also tests the reaction of the West and Russia to the repression. A search at Belgazprombank, owned by Gazprom, could generate tensions with Moscow, ”wrote Vyachorka.
Kaciaryna Šmacina, analyst for strategic studies in Belarus. 15 minutes Lukashenko said he was putting pressure on Babarika for fear of his popularity. Babarika, who came from business and is not associated with the political regime, is an attractive candidate for a wide range of voters, including the middle class.
Furthermore, voters may be drawn to Babarika’s restraint: Unlike previous opponents, he is not talking about a revolution.
TASS photo / Signatures are collected for Viktor Babarik
In the past few weeks, there have been large queues of people signing up for opposition candidates in the presidential election. According to the media, the results of an unpublished opinion poll showed that around 3% would vote for Lukashenko. voters, for popular representatives of the opposition: 15-16 percent each. voters.
SEE ALSO: Belarus before the elections: will the 2010 protest scenario be repeated?
The political scientist Laurynas Jonavičius 15 minutes assured that “Lukashenko is not afraid of any competition, but is concerned that it may require additional, additional resources and efforts unpopularity“
K.Šmačina is cautious about optimistic forecasts due to regime changes. Votes are not expected to be counted fairly, the elections themselves will change somewhat.
“Babarika herself is smart enough to understand that the results of this year’s election are likely to be predictable.” However, your strategy and that of other candidates may be as follows: get involved in building a political reputation for future elections. Because one day Lukashenko will continue to resign. And then there will be an opportunity to really compete for the presidency. ” 15 minutes K.Šmacina said.
However, he drew attention to the phenomenon that people take to the streets during a pandemic, risking their health. And despite the fact that free elections have not taken place in the country for 25 years, “there is no loss of interest in participating in public life.”
Who Is Viktor Babarika?
According to K.Šmacina, V. Babarika’s participation in the elections was unexpected, as he had not been very visible in political life before. It is true that in a previous interview on cultural or economic issues as a representative of Belgazprombank, he was critical of the regime.
AFP / Scanpix photo / Caricature of Alexander Lukashenko
When Lukashenko fired the government in early June, the former prime minister, Sergei Rum, was said to be uncomfortable with ties to Babarika.
V. Babarika gathered the initiative group through social networks, it has 8,094 people. More than a third are people between 36 and 45 years old. It also raised 285,000. signatures, although 100,000 are enough to become a candidate. Tut.by He writes that this is a record between alternative candidates throughout history.
V. Babarika told the portal that he was sure he would be registered as a candidate, that there was no formal reason not to do so. “If such groups are not registered, the legitimacy of the elections against the nation itself will be highly questioned,” he added.
In May, Babarika said that in exchange for his withdrawal from the elections, he had been offered the post of prime minister. Lukashenko accused his rival of lying and hinted that perhaps another country, such as Russia, had offered him the position of prime minister.
Babarika strongly criticizes the country’s economic system, which is largely controlled by the state and which becomes a tool in political and energy conflicts with a much larger neighbor, Russia.
Lukashenko hinted that Babarik was being financed by Moscow, which wanted to “privatize” Belarus. In 1999, Russia and Belarus signed an agreement on the formation of a state of the Union. It has not been implemented so far.
“If I, as a banker, a businessman, had a document that was not produced for 20 years, the question would have to be asked: why is it for us? Maybe it lost its relevance? Maybe it is like a suitcase without handles “The usefulness of this agreement must be reviewed. We are going to clarify it, update it … There are options,” V. Babarika said of the state of the union agreement.
Bababika, 56, has a master’s degree in economics. In 1995, he joined Olimp, which later became Belgazprombank. Since May 2020, V. Babarika has been its manager.
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