On August 9, 2020, my home country, the Republic of Belarus, held another presidential election, in which, according to the official results, the incumbent president, Alexander Lukashenko, once again won by a large margin. On that very day, I began reading Lukashenko: A Political Biography, written by Alexander Feduta, a former ally of the president who worked in his first campaign headquarters and in his first government. When he wrote the book, Lukashenko had already been in power for 10 years, and even then, the author noted many changes in the initial promises and direction chosen by the country’s first and, so far, only president.
Today, Lukashenko has been in power for 26 years. Many of today’s voters were born during his rule, attended kindergarten, went to school, grew up, and became parents themselves. And for the second month after the election, protests in Belarus have not subsided, as the authorities attempt to brutally suppress them.
Why did I start reading this book? In 1994, I was 17 years old, not yet eligible to vote, and probably not very interested in politics at the time. But my coming of age took place “in the Lukashenko era.” I wanted to understand how Alexander Grigoryevich came to power and what kind of person he was. I remember all the events described in the book, but I could hardly assess them back then in the way a person “over forty” can now.
I wanted to understand how it happened that the various republics of the former USSR, once neighbors, took very different paths after its collapse. The Baltic states, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine—we’re all neighbors, with much in common, yet in the 29 years since the USSR’s dissolution, our differences have grown significantly. Belarus has charted its own path, with its own achievements and failures. And for 26 of those 29 years, the same person has led the country.
Alexander Feduta isn’t the only one who has written about Lukashenko; there’s another book—The Accidental President, written by Pavel Sheremet and Svetlana Kalinkina a few years before Feduta’s. Pavel was an outspoken critic of the government, served time in prison, wrote this book, and was ultimately assassinated in Kyiv in 2016. His book differs from Feduta’s; it is partly autobiographical (covering his time in prison) and partly about the president and his circle. Sheremet’s judgments are sharper, more personal, and he makes accusations openly and directly.
Feduta’s book is quite different. It’s a substantial work dedicated to the personality of the first president, his biography before coming to power, and his first ten years in office. Naturally, Alexander Feduta adds his own perspective on the events he describes, but this is entirely appropriate, as he was a direct participant. He also tries to present the views of various people, richly seasoning the descriptions with quotes from many who agreed to be interviewed for the book, or simply by using excerpts from publications of those years.
I highly recommend reading this book to gain a better understanding of the person who currently governs the Republic of Belarus, as well as many of his actions. Although the book covers only the first ten years of his rule, the subsequent years are a direct consequence of the policies and principles set in motion at the very beginning of his political career. As I read, it was frightening to see and understand where and how the country is headed, and why Belarusians have been out on the streets for the past two months, risking not only their jobs and careers but even their health and lives.
My rating: 5/5
