The West thinks him to be a non-legitimate president, the opposition, just a psycho. However, the people of Belarus still respect and love Alexander Lukashenko. How did he manage to gain the love of the people? To understand it, let’s tell the story of Lukashenko from his very beginning.

Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko was born on August 30, 1954 in a big village of the Kopys, Vitebsk region. He grew up without a father, so from his youth the affairs of the family lay on his shoulders. He managed to build his career from the ground up without the help of others. He’s got two degrees: one in History from Mogilev University and the other from the Goretsk Academy of Agriculture. All the jobs he had before the age of 33 were insignificant. Who knows what his career could have been like if the Perestroika didn’t come? Lukashenko was one of the very first people to understand that the stereotypes of the past were rapidly losing their force. Being aware of this fact, Lukashenko made a very risky step for his time; being just a director of a farm, he initiated the nomination of himself for the post of a national deputy. He had 166 meetings with the electors during one month! In 1990 he was elected a deputy of the Belarusian Parliament.

Then came the fall of the USSR in 1991 – the Soviet Union was broken apart by the heads of republics who were really eager to get the power not limited by the Kremlin. Although 82.6% of the Belarusian people had voted for the unity of the USSR, the country was “put out to sea” on its own. For many Belarusians it was the latter-day democracy and freedom that had lead the republic to the economy crisis, increase in crime, and a confused bustle of numerous parties and organizations. However, the worst manifestation of chaos was the one that filled the people’s heads ruining the former ideology.

Having created a deputy group, “Communists for Democracy”, Lukashenko disputed corruption and poverty thus gaining the people’s confidence. After winning the first presidential election in 1994 he faced a really difficult question – Where to lead the country? And the new President decided to follow the method that made him so successful – he started the rebirth of the Belarusian Socialistic System (the socialism as he saw it).

Years of slow career growth made him hate all the representatives of the higher echelon. It was the thing that determined his policy: “Bureaucratic officials and bribable government should be blamed for everything”. The former government made claims about the real cause of poverty – the change of the political system. Lukashenko, however, made it all much easier. He simply pointed at the “initiators of the country’s misfortunes”. Such populist measures were really effective; in 1996 Lukashenko suppressed the opposition and became the only leader of the country possessing the unlimited presidential power. Even though he was declared persona non grata in Europe and the USA, in his republic he still is “the Tsar and the God”.

Lukashenko says about the situation in the country: “We saved the republic from the Mafioso, didn’t let the criminals get into the Parliament seats… We stopped the raging inflation, reduced the budget deficit, and we made it all without any help from the outside. We didn’t blow the common property of the people, didn’t take any credits from foreign banks, and didn’t get into debt that our children and grandchildren would have to pay off. We managed to keep and develop social programs for people: housing, pension, free medicine, and education. We strengthened and developed the positive tendency towards the stable economic growth”.

It all looks especially impressive against the background of serious problems experienced by the neighboring post-Soviet countries. And here’s the result: during the 2005 referendum people gave Alexander Lukashenko the right to run for presidency in 2006. Needless to say that in March, 2006, Lukashenko was re-elected again after getting 83% of the vote.