Opposition split (correction: not quite)
Kozulin's press secretary Nina Shidlouskaya: Before the meeting started, Kozulin and Milinkevich discussed how to preserve the spirit shown by Belarusians. And they had agreed on a number of things, including the initiative coming from Milinkevich's team, to ask people to leave today"
via LJ user wolny
My comment: as I pointed before, the opposition's weak spot is their leadership. As one protester said, they look like they don't need the power. Kozulin from the start seemed like a careerist (he used to be head of the Belarusian Sate University, a post that a decent person is unlikely to hold even before Lukashenka) Most of the opposition's long-time leadership, "full-time oppositioners", as I call them, are so used to being in opposition, they can hardly see themselves in power. They seem to have very little idea what to do with the power once they take it. They have little idea what it's like to be responsible for the whole country.
Says LJ user anysyst (in Russian)
For our opposition leaders, revolution is like playing heads and tails:
- if it's a head and people come out, then you can hang out with them and "revolutionize"
- if it's a tail and nobody comes, well that's OK, the authorities have scared the people, and you can ask the West for aid
- if the coin lends on its edge and there is really a lot of people coming out, then who knows, maybe the police will join the people, and who knows, maybe, then revolution has a chance of succeeding.
A true revolutionary never aims at "preserving the spirit": he will try to steer the flame and grow the movement. Milinkevich has got a wonderful opportunity to create a change, thanks to the courage of the thousands Belarusians who braved the very real threats from Luka and the cold; the tens of thousands of people who overcame fear, despair, and cynicism. It will be a shame if he and his team blow this opportunity, by disgracing himself the way Kozulin just did.
UPDATE: a good comment by anonimous:
there is no split, kozulin's supporters are on the square. [respect! - IL]
via LJ user wolny
My comment: as I pointed before, the opposition's weak spot is their leadership. As one protester said, they look like they don't need the power. Kozulin from the start seemed like a careerist (he used to be head of the Belarusian Sate University, a post that a decent person is unlikely to hold even before Lukashenka) Most of the opposition's long-time leadership, "full-time oppositioners", as I call them, are so used to being in opposition, they can hardly see themselves in power. They seem to have very little idea what to do with the power once they take it. They have little idea what it's like to be responsible for the whole country.
Says LJ user anysyst (in Russian)
For our opposition leaders, revolution is like playing heads and tails:
- if it's a head and people come out, then you can hang out with them and "revolutionize"
- if it's a tail and nobody comes, well that's OK, the authorities have scared the people, and you can ask the West for aid
- if the coin lends on its edge and there is really a lot of people coming out, then who knows, maybe the police will join the people, and who knows, maybe, then revolution has a chance of succeeding.
A true revolutionary never aims at "preserving the spirit": he will try to steer the flame and grow the movement. Milinkevich has got a wonderful opportunity to create a change, thanks to the courage of the thousands Belarusians who braved the very real threats from Luka and the cold; the tens of thousands of people who overcame fear, despair, and cynicism. It will be a shame if he and his team blow this opportunity, by disgracing himself the way Kozulin just did.
UPDATE: a good comment by anonimous:
there is no split, kozulin's supporters are on the square. [respect! - IL]
posted by Ivan Lenin at 15:51
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