Laut dem Wikipedia-Eintrag zur weißrussischen Präsidentschaftswahl 1994 war dies die einzige freie Wahl in der weißrussischen Geschichte, und ich bin mir bewusst, dass Lukaschenko seitdem jede Wahl manipuliert hat, indem er seine Gegner getötet, eingesperrt und gefoltert hat. Warum wurde Lukaschenko überhaupt gewählt? Was brachte die Menschen dazu, sein Regime zu unterstützen? Und warum ließen sie zu, dass er in den folgenden Jahren seine Macht festigte? War die belarussische Regierung nicht so strukturiert, dass Autokraten die Machtübernahme verhindern konnten? War die politische Struktur zu wackelig?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994\_Belarusian\_presidential\_election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Belarusian_presidential_election) Was wäre, wenn die Wahl 1994 anders verlaufen wäre und ein anderer Kandidat gewählt worden wäre? Kurz gesagt, warum hat Weißrussland einen ganz anderen Weg eingeschlagen als viele andere Ost-/Sowjetblockländer?
https://old.reddit.com/r/belarus/comments/1bkn8et/why_was_lukashenko_elected_in_1994/
Von FreedomBill5116
3 Comments
I was a middle school student at that time, but remember quite well. 3 things:
1. his enthusiasm in agriculture
2. his promise to eradicate ‘mafia’ (imho wtf???)
3. And the highlight: his promise to increase a financial support for the elderly/pensioners.
There are many factors. Here are some.
1. Bad luck. Any post-soviet country could fall prey to a dictator as institutions were very weak and people naive. Belarus was just extremely unlucky to get a power hungry maniac at the worst possible time, while most other countries got at least half-descent presidents. It wasn’t predetermined that Belarus would become like this. If Lukashenko fell under a tractor in the 80s, Belarusian history could go very differently.
2. His main opponent Kebich was seen as Pro-Russian corrupt soviet bureaucrat. Guess Belarusian people weren’t as much fans of USSR and Russia as some like to say.
3. He lied. He promised to fight corruption, but also freedom and reforms during his campaign. That’s what people were voting for, not for dictatorship or restoration of USSR.
4. Russia used its influence to save Lukashenko from impeachment.
As for how he managed to consolidate and hold power, it’s not like people said “Ok, guess we’ll live in a dictatorship now.” There were big protests since 1996 and pretty much every few years since then. But he was supported by Russia, had an army of former KGB agents settled in Belarus at his side and wouldn’t hesitate to murder his opponents.
Because he run a very successful campaign in the countryside. He was looking like a simple boy from a village, and more than half of Belarussian population live there.