Mikalai Statkevich Made Harsh Remarks About Politicians-in-waiting

• 23.03.2026, 18:52

Miraculous change will not happen by itself.

The leader of the Belarusian opposition, released political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich in his Telegram channel sharply commented on politicians whose goal is not to change Lukashenko's regime, but only to imitate the struggle:

- As for the self-appointed "leaders of the revolution," the problem is not the imposters, but the fact that there were no protest leaders at all on a national scale. Of course, there were regional protest leaders and candidates from the same "Narodnai Hramada", activists of "European Belarus", from anarchists, from soccer fans, from backyard chat rooms. There were people who took leadership in specific situations, then those of them, who did not leave the country, were persecuted. Our coordinator for Pinsk Mikalai Klimovich died in prison.

But after the arrest of several well-known people from the leadership of the Belarusian National Congress, there was no nationwide management of the protests. There was technical management of popular Telegram channels - where to gather, where to go. And people obeyed it, because they were energized to protest.

But there was no leadership with strategy, goals, demands, concern for the safety of protesters. Even, for some reason, people were not informed of the simple recommendation to go to the rallies wearing medical masks, which would save not only from covida, but also from repression.

None of the other candidates and politicians were oriented to protest. Other orientations and goals prevailed there. One analyst once remarked very aptly that the Belarusian opposition, with few exceptions, fights not for power, but for a place in the queue for power. With the naive hope that if the regime somehow miraculously disappears, those who stand first in the queue will get power.

And to get this place, the most suitable way is to take part in the presidential "elections", to get fame (they call it "spin"), some rating, but in no case to go to jail. And then, having taken an honorable place in the queue, meet with foreign politicians, get support and wait for the regime to somehow disappear and they will be called to power. I call such politicians waiters. An example for them is one candidate in the 2015 "elections" where she played the role of opposition. After the "elections" she actually admitted her defeat, did not call to the Square and did not object to negotiations with the regime. But she never realized how to create her own party. And it was accepted all over Europe. Berlin even wanted to make her the leader of the entire opposition.

Mikalai Statkevich assessed the politicians who appeared in Belarus on the wave of revolution:

- There were such waiters in 2020. It came to the point that a candidate goes to the "elections" and hides his attitude even to independence, to the problems of the Belarusian language, to the future unions of Belarus. Apparently, in order not to tie his hands in the future trade in them, and at the same time to lie that it is forbidden to speak about it, according to the electoral legislation.

Surprisingly, despite this, he was warmly supported by the nationally oriented intelligentsia. What's surprising though - the reason is common and trivial, just like Maduro's electorate. Also, when asked about his reaction to possible falsifications, he said that he was sure that Ermoshina would count all the votes correctly. Allegedly ironic, but what percentage of Belarusians understood this as irony? I think it's a minority. The strategy is clear - to be so white and fluffy against the background of terrible radical nationalists. And further down the list: to promote themselves, etc.

One thing he did not take into account is that the situation is different, the authorities feel themselves on a powder keg, afraid. And out of fear, if anything, grabs a cudgel. And they see through such "cunning" people there, because they are the same, and do not leave them in the rear.

As a result, the candidate was imprisoned, because only ballerinas are allowed to "promote themselves" in Belarus now.

Therefore, even such an extra cautious style does not work. But his example worked, at least, on the members of that candidate's team. I had a TV set in my cell in Zhodinsk pre-trial detention center for a short time. Every evening I watched a program on the Russian RTR, which often included materials about the protests in Belarus.

And I saw how the journalists of the channel were literally looking for the leader of the numerous protests. And one day they asked a young woman from the team of that cautious candidate, who was one of the faces of Tikhanovskaya's election campaign, and who later proved herself courageous and dignified, why people gathered here.

That's the star hour for any politician - just say a common phrase like "to achieve real elections" and you become the only undisputed leader of a protest of thousands in the eyes of Belarus and the whole world. But the lessons and example of her team leader were quite different. And she gave up the leadership, answering that she was "just walking around."

Further, she did not let herself be forcibly deported and also went through prison hell. In short, as Marcus Aurelius once said, "the problem is that without taking risks, we risk a hundred times more." And it is hard not to agree with the philosopher-emperor.

And yet, some waiters have chosen an even more cautious strategy - to loudly declare their position and "courageously rush away". In order to continue the fight for a place in the queue abroad. I must disappoint them - the new government will be formed not from your queue, but by those who will remove the old one. This is always the case. But there is a high probability that it will be formed in Moscow. And claiming leadership in a country that is under constant threat of losing its independence requires a certain capacity for self-sacrifice.

Imagine what could have happened to Ukraine if its leader had fled Kiev four years ago.

A few more words about the BNC's strategy. It had a weak point. We wanted to gather people on pickets to collect signatures to nominate protest candidates. In solidarity with the administratively imprisoned protest candidate Sergei Tikhanovsky, who was not even given the opportunity to submit documents for registration as a candidate, we supported the nomination of his wife Svetlana. When Sergey was released, we, in coordination with him, held picket meetings to collect signatures for the nomination of Svetlana Tikhanovsky. When Sergei was arrested again in a criminal case, we made Svetlana's pickets the main venue for such rallies. Although there were also rallies at the pickets of other protest candidates. The number of participants in the rallies grew exponentially. Despite the arrests of BNC leaders, regional leaders continued to organize rallies on Tikhanovskaya's pickets, as it was intended.

We planned to bring the number of their participants to the 3.5% that researchers consider necessary for the victory of a long peaceful protest by the end of June. But then the unexpected happened. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya issued a statement, saying threats were being made against her and urging her not to come out to her picket lines because these rallies are "a provocation by the authorities." This statement was distributed by the "Countries for Life" network of regional video channels, created by Sergei Tikhanovsky, in all significant cities. Picket rallies in the regions were interrupted.

In addition, the entire protest network we had created was compromised. Its regional leaders were not just insulted and disoriented. They were also made provocateurs for the authorities in the eyes of their fellow countrymen. I must pay tribute to the authorities - the blow to the protests was very powerful and accurate.

I realized that Svetlana is a new and inexperienced person. But I hoped that she would be able to keep silent, because nothing else was required of her. But she didn't. I don't know what made her do it, what she was promised, what she was threatened with.

And my share of the blame is in this, because I myself made her an offer to be nominated under the scheme "wife instead of husband", which I invented for another person, but because his initiative group was not registered, I didn't realize it. He proposed it over the phone, without making eye contact, without feeling the person.

Our chances of winning were sharply reduced. Further on, everything went in the usual and necessary for the authorities direction. An election campaign, where you need permission from the authorities for rallies. And the authorities, sensing the mood of society, did not give permission. The expected official result in the elections and emigration. Unexpected for many, but not for us, was only the mass protest of Belarusians, who did not agree with the next deception.

That's when we saw many hundreds of thousands of protesters in the streets and saw their effect - turmoil and confusion of the authorities, even apologies. Then there were persistent, courageous and dignified, but significantly less numerous actions that had moral, political, historical and international significance, but could no longer bring about a change in the situation. Then there was the powerful mass revenge for the experienced fear and the mass emigration provoked by it and the example of the "leaders". So the "leadership" of the impostors was still there, but only in this.

I tell so sincerely about the preparation of those events and our actions because it is important to understand the events and the roles of different individuals and organizations in them. In order not to go in an eternal circle, making similar mistakes every time.

I don't want to criticize only. After all, we have shown the whole world that there is a Belarusian nation, ready to fight for freedom, which should now be taken into account by those who used to see us only as demographic material for themselves, while the ruling regime lacks legitimacy. People who found themselves in exile organized actions demanding the release of political prisoners. They collected money from their not very large incomes to help those released.

But now there is a war in the region. The time has come to prepare, resource and implement a plan of decisive steps to save the country from the terrible scenarios that are being imposed on us from the East. Are the waiting people capable of doing that?

As for the events of 2020, they were for me, first of all, the time of the emergence of the Belarusian political nation, for which I have been working for decades, a nation of dignity, courage, nobility and solidarity, admired by the whole world.

The time of the emergence of a number of new leaders who took the initiative themselves, organized and led the protests, and went to prison for it. Time will come and a grateful free Belarus will honor their names. I'm sure that the first generations of leaders of the free Belarusian state will be made up of these people.

Mikalai Statkevich also addressed the supporters of changes in Belarus and urged them not to be waiters:

- Don't hope for miraculous changes by themselves, for someone's illness, death, for Trump with missiles, for "God from the machine," who once appeared in ancient Greek tragedies and solved all the problems. Don't be waiters. We will have to solve everything ourselves. And we have the resources necessary for this. The task is to unite all these resources and use them effectively. I have already written about this. Perhaps my suggestions seemed unrealistic to some because they were based on incomplete information and did not take into account previous bad experiences. That's the way to think and work to make them realistic. Because we have no other way to liberate and preserve our country. And I believe that we will succeed, that Belarus will live.