Could Blue Jeans Revolution prevail in Belarus?

Fire of Liberty

Well it seems that President Lukashenko of Belarus hasn't had a chance to read Francis Fukayama's The End of History and the Last Man or he'd know that the era of a Soviet Styled dictatorship went out long ago but then again what dictator in the style of Lukashenko is ever willing to actually allow the people to push him out of power after some twelve years of iron rule. From the looks of this article in The Times, the old school dictator has decided to pull out all stops once again to prevent his political opponents from ending his nostalgia for the Soviet dictatorship of yesteryear. You know Lukashenko means business when you read paragraphs like these:

Belarussian officials insist that the election will be free and fair. In the past year, though, the authorities have closed dozens of newspapers and pro-democracy groups and repeatedly jailed and fined opposition supporters.

Last week security agents beat up another opposition candidate, Alexander Kozulin. The shooting incident occurred when Mr Radevil tried to collect a camera used to take pictures of security agents assaulting Mr Kozulin's supporters.

When he went to the prosecutor's office to complain he was charged with threatening a police officer. It is still unclear who fired the gun but he is widely rumoured to have been a senior member of the elite anti-terrorism unit, Almaz.

The mere mention of Almaz sends a shiver down Svetlana Zavadskaya'’s spine. Her husband, Dmitry, is one of several prominent critics of Mr Lukashenko who have "disappeared"” in the past five years. She says that she will still take part in the protest on March 19 but she fears the worst. "“Bloodshed is quite possible,"” she said.

I just hope the opposition can bring about a change in power in this last enclave of Soviet style rule in Eastern Europe. Hopefully the continued condemnation of the current leadership in Minsk by President Bush and Secretary Rice will provide some needed support to the "true democrats" of Belarus. After twelve years of misrule, they deserve something.