LUKASHENKA BECOMES PULP-FICTION HERO

[curt fredric woolhiser]

Dear SEELANGers:

Has anyone encountered any Russian reactions to this new book? I
assume that the favorable reviews mentioned by BTV came from "Zavtra"
and other publications of that ilk.


>
>RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
>________________________________________________________
>RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report
>Vol. 3, No. 5, 13 February 2001
>
>A Survey of Developments in Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine by
>the Regional Specialists of RFE/RL's Newsline Team
>
>
>BELARUS
>
>LUKASHENKA BECOMES PULP-FICTION HERO. The Belarusian state-
>controlled media have recently begun to vigorously advertise the book
>called "The President's Last Soldier" by Russian author Dmitrii
>Cherkasov. The book is to appear soon in bookstores in Russia and
>Belarus. RFE/RL's Minsk correspondent got hold of the promotional
>materials for the book and was able to explain the reasons for
>official Minsk's keen interest in the publication.
>    It turns out that Cherkasov's book focuses on developments
>taking place in Minsk and Moscow. A group of Belarusian opposition
>figures -- who appear under their real names (including Bahdankevich,
>Khadyka, Shlyndzikau, Nistsyuk, Patupa, Hermyanchuk) and are
>portrayed as criminals, drug addicts, and homosexuals -- are plotting
>to unseat President Alyaksandr Lukashenka with the help from
>"treacherous" state clerk Myasnikovich and journalist Maslyukova.
>Initially they want to poison Lukashenka but after their plan suffers
>a failure, they intend to drop a nuclear bomb on Lukashenka's
>residence (this step, quite naturally, is to be made with the help of
>the West). Lukashenka's life is finally rescued by a brave agent from
>Russia's special services -- the "last soldier" of the title.
>    It is notable that the book's villians include two persons
>called Myasnikovich and Maslyukova. There are two well-known real-
>life characters bearing such names in Belarus.
>    Mikhail Myasnikovich is head of the presidential administration
>staff. He was a member of the Belarusian government as early as in
>the Gorbachev-era: in 1986 he was appointed housing minister, and in
>1991-94 he served as first deputy premier. In the 1994 presidential
>campaign, Myasnikovich headed the election team of then Premier
>Vyacheslau Kebich.
>    Following Kebich's defeat, Lukashenka proposed to Myasnikovich
>to remain in the government. In 1995 Lukashenka appointed
>Myasnikovich to his current position. Myasnikovich is widely believed
>to be one of the most influential representatives of the old
>nomenklatura and, owing to his political longevity, is seen by many
>in Belarus as a personified symbol of political spinelessness. But
>what is particularly interesting, some staunch supporters of the
>Belarus-Russia Union see Myasnikovich as a kind of "Belarusian
>nationalist" who is not wholeheartedly devoted to the merger of the
>two Slavic states. It is not ruled out that the book's "treacherous"
>Myasnikovich derives its origin from a series of articles published
>some time ago in Russia's ultra-leftist and nationalist periodicals,
>including "Zavtra," where the real-life Myasnikovich was presented as
>an enemy of Belarusian-Russian integration.
>    Lyudmila Maslyukova is a journalist of "Sovetskaya
>Belorussiya," Lukashenka's main press mouthpiece. She has a sharp pen
>and her articles usually have a touch of vividness and inspiration
>compared to insipid and heavy-handed pro-Lukashenka propaganda in the
>state-controlled media.
>    Maslyukova lived through an unusual journalistic odyssey before
>arriving at her current political destination. In 1993, she worked
>for "Sovetskaya Belorussiya" and was a sort of press spokeswoman for
>Alyaksandr Lukashenka, then a legislator and head of a temporary
>anti-corruption commission. Maslyukova is widely believed to have
>written for Lukashenka his famous report on corruption in the
>government, which made him a popular hero and gave him an unbeatable
>position in the 1994 presidential race. However, Maslyukova broke
>ties with Lukashenka before the presidential ballot and supported
>Vasil Novikau, the candidate of the Communist Party, in the campaign.
>Following the controversial 1996 constitutional referendum,
>Maslyukova joined the ranks of democratically minded journalists and
>wrote for some time for the anti-Lukashenka "Narodnaya volya."
>Finally, by the end of 1999, she got a job once again in "Sovetskaya
>Belorussiya" and became a model for loyalist pro-Lukashenka
>journalists in Belarus.
>    Judging by its advertisement campaign of "The President's Last
>Soldier," official Minsk expects that the book will inflict
>substantial damage on the opposition in the runup to this year's
>presidential campaign. Belarusian Television's comment on the book on
>8 February clearly signals such expectations:
>    "The novel of Dmitrii Cherkasov, 'The President's Last
>Soldier,' has become a really sensational publication for the
>Belarusian political elite....This is not strange, since a few dozen
>well-known activists may be easily recognized among the plotters,
>political schemers, drug addicts, and even -- pardon my word --
>homosexuals in the book. By revealing the unknown side of life of the
>Belarusian political beau monde, the author has apparently cut many
>to the quick....Meanwhile, the novel was favorably reviewed by
>Russian writers. The author was credited with an uncompromising
>presentation of reality....Uninformed Belarusian readers will soon
>have the possibility to make themselves familiar with the other side
>of the lives of some main figures in Belarus's current politics."
>
>
>
>(Compiled by Jan Maksymiuk)
>*********************************************************
>Copyright (c) 2001. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
>
>RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report is prepared by Jan
>Maksymiuk on the basis of a variety of sources including
>reporting by "RFE/RL Newsline" and RFE/RL's broadcast
>services. It is distributed every Tuesday.
>
>Direct comments to Jan Maksymiuk at maksymiukj at rferl.org.
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