Expert: Lukashenko gives in his security forces to keep power

The decision to dismiss management of the Operational Analytical Center (OAC) made by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on October 13 implies that the security forces lost in the internal strife between the power groups in the republic, Deputy Dean of the Higher School of Economics Andrey Suzdaltsev has said to EADaily.

"The long-hidden internal struggle between the two largest factions, one of which is headed by Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, has now cropped up. What is happening now is an attempt to smash one of the special services, which personally reports to Lukashenko. Moreover, this center is being destroyed by the Belarusian president himself,” Suzdaltsev said.

In his opinion, Alexander Lukashenko "simply gave in his security forces," putting his stake on the group led by Makei.

Moreover, the struggle between the security forces and the Makei faction, the expert believes, is not a struggle between "pro-Russian" and "pro-Western" forces. In the leadership of Belarus, according to Suzdaltsev, there are no pro-Russian forces at all.

The security forces in this case, according to the political analyst, pursued their own interests, because they remembered the situation with the Berkut special police force in Kiev in 2014, when the law enforcement agencies were hit, being actually betrayed by the previous leadership.

"Lukashenko is devious seeking options to retain his power, he expects the West to accept him and legalize his endless regime. He seeks support for his regime and hopes that it will be provided by Makei," Andrey Suzdaltsev believes.

As EADaily reported earlier, because of the complaints about the work of the OAC on the part of the commission set up on behalf of Lukashenko, the Belarusian president decided that all heads of the OAC (the head Sergey Shpegun and his deputies Gennady Belkov and Konstantin Shulgin) should be suspended until the facts submitted to the president are investigated. Let us note that the OAC is one of the most influential Belarusian special forces. It is believed that it is overseen by the eldest son of the Belarusian president Viktor Lukashenko.