Pavel Latushko, a member of the presidium of the coordinating council of the Belarusian opposition, said that a kind of alternative “government” of the republic could be created abroad.

“Who knows, maybe in the future a decision will be made to create a government outside our country, which will also issue relevant documents for Belarusian citizens abroad?”

- said Latushko in a video message to the participants of the World Congress of Belarusians, which is being held online.

At the same time, the oppositionist expressed the hope that "it will not come to this," and the change of power in Belarus will take place earlier.

He also stated that the Belarusian diasporas abroad should create some information points that can become “prototypes of embassies”.

According to his plan, these structures will be parallel to the institutions of power that are currently functioning in the republic.

At the same time, Pavel Latushko stressed that the opposition should act peacefully and within the framework of international law.

As an example, he cited a possible initiative to exclude official Minsk from the Bologna process (the system of integration of European education) and a boycott by foreign educational institutions of those Belarusian universities that applied sanctions against students and teachers participating in the protests.

Strikes and strikes

Recall that on August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus, in which, according to the Central Election Commission of the republic, the current head of state, Alexander Lukashenko, won, gaining 80.1% of the vote.

His main competitor, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the wife of blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, who ended up in jail shortly before the elections, won 10.1% of support.

After that, protest actions of those who disagreed with this outcome began across the country.

The opposition claims that the election results in favor of Lukashenka were falsified, and the real winner is Tikhanovskaya.

To disperse protests and rallies, Belarusian security forces often use tear gas and other special equipment.

  • Alexander Lukashenko

  • © Nikolai Petrov / BelTA / Handout via REUTERS

Meanwhile, Lukashenko said on October 27 that the protesters in Belarus "crossed the red line in many directions," and the actions of the opposition movement began to acquire a radical shade.

“Well, how can you evaluate the fact that you have already entered the railway and are beginning to block the automation, to close the rails?

This can lead to serious rail accidents, disasters and the death of many people.

These are the actions of organized criminal groups with signs of terrorism.

We are starting to face terrorist threats, ”the president stated.

He noted that the organizers of the Belarusian protests are acting according to the guidelines of the “color revolutions” and have already passed 7-8 stages.

“There is very little left.

The next stage is radicalization.

It is happening.

It was no longer an information war, but a terrorist war against us in separate directions.

We must stop this, ”Lukashenka said.

The head of state said this after Tikhanovskaya announced the beginning of a nationwide strike.

Earlier, she put forward the so-called "people's ultimatum" to the Belarusian authorities demanding the resignation of the head of state, otherwise the opposition promised a wave of strikes, blocking roads and a collapse of retail trade in state stores.

"Has nothing to do with Belarus"

Earlier, Pavel Latushko, together with representatives of the opposition forces, announced the creation of a structure called the People's Anti-Crisis Management (NAU).

“While the Coordinating Council was created to conduct negotiations, the NAU will be a body ensuring the achievement of the following goals - the beginning of negotiations and stability in the country at the time of the transition of power to democratic forces,” Latushko said.

This structure "will also solve the problems facing the country from the moment the ex-president leaves until the new elections and the transfer of power to the new government."

  • Pavel Latushko

  • Reuters

  • © Vasily Fedosenko

The NAU will be headed by Latushko himself.

According to him, this structure will help the headquarters of Tikhanovskaya and the coordination council of the opposition and come up with "concrete proposals: how to eliminate the causes of the crisis, to achieve the start of negotiations, to correct the situation in the economy, to restore the rule of law and others."

The incumbent president of Belarus, in turn, believes that the creation of new parallel structures indicates a fragmentation in the opposition camp.

“We created the People's Anti-Crisis Administration.

Under the leadership of this Latushko.

But there is a Coordination Council.

No, management yet.

And why?

Because discord has begun.

It will also create something there.

You see, to hell there abroad, there are not enough portfolios.

And they began to rivet these governments in exile, ”Lukashenka said.

In his opinion, the purpose of all this activity is financing and receiving grants.

“They got into trouble there, the struggle for these grants.

They do not need anything good in Belarus, they need to scrape it together and divide it, as it has always been.

You are knowledgeable people, you understand how it was, ”the Belarusian leader added.

It is worth noting that Pavel Latushko himself was a functionary of the Lukashenko government - at various times he represented Belarus in Poland, France and UNESCO, was the Minister of Culture and had the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

At the time of the August 2020 elections and subsequent protests, he served as director of the Kupala Theater, from which he was fired after supporting the opposition.

In mid-September, he was stripped of his diplomatic rank and left for Poland, accompanied by Polish diplomats.

According to experts, all the latest initiatives of the Belarusian opposition are aimed at preserving the protest resource, which is gradually drying up. 

“The meaning of the government in exile is to implement a full-fledged alternative program that includes economic, political and social provisions.

In this case, the opposition does not have an ideological basis, they are united only by the desire to hold early elections.

However, this is not a political program, not a basis for creating a government, but a slogan, ”said Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at the IMEMO RAS, in an interview with RT.

Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, adheres to a similar point of view.

In an interview with RT, he called Latushko's statement about a possible foreign government an attempt to draw attention to the fading protest movement.

"This action, like all previous steps to incite protest, in particular, the creation of a coordinating council and a general strike, will not bring any practical result," the political scientist explained.

From his point of view, one should not expect any real influence on the processes inside Belarus from this mythical body.

“Those who now declare that they are creating opposition centers of power, in fact, have nothing to do with present-day Belarus, including Latushko.

Neither the coordinating council nor the government in exile can become legitimate bodies and represent the interests of Belarusians, ”Shapovalov stressed.

The expert noted that what is happening in Belarus to some extent resembles a failed scenario for a change of power, which was never implemented in Venezuela.

“Of course, the situation in these countries is different in terms of procedural issues, but the meaning is the same.

Both Tikhanovskaya and Guaido are puppets of external forces that are trying to influence the situation in the country in this way.

But this scenario has nothing to do with real political life and, accordingly, does not give any results.

The protest movement is gradually dying out.

However, the constitutional reform and dialogue with the opposition are important elements of the development of the political situation in Belarus, which can ultimately lead to a normalization of the situation, ”the expert concluded.