Lukashenko appears to broaden nomenclature’s powers

On December 10^th, the president held a national meeting at Minsk’s Independence Palace. Attended by 250 public officials from the Presidential Administration, Government, Parliament, various ministries, and other executives, including regional heads, the meeting addressed challenges in the construction industry and the government’s staffing policy. During the meeting, president Lukashenko did not question the centralized governmental system but sought to bolster public officials’ sense of responsibility by increasing their participation in the decision-making process.

Today president Lukashenko is the only politician who determines Belarus’ state policy. He has repeatedly said that all other members of the power system were managers whose task was to implement decisions taken by the President. However, in the face of shrinking external subsidies, this centralized public management system can no longer cope with managing the economy.

The president constantly reshuffles his top-managers and security officials, which brings some benefits and reduces the risks of nomenclature coup. However, these measures fail to improve public administration’s efficiency.

Failed modernization in the woodworking industry is probably the most obvious example of Lukashenko’s limited influence on his executives. Modernization in the woodworking industry started back in 2007, its deadlines were shifted many times and in 2013, directors were still working to fix the problems.

The president’s personnel policy has resulted in staff shortages, both at top- and mid-level management. On December 10^th, Presidential Administration Head Andrei Kobyakov said “the Deputy Economy Minister’s chair has been vacant for nearly two years, while there are potential candidates. For a long time, such positions as Deputy Ministers of Architecture and Construction, Sports and Tourism, Director of the Department for control and supervision in construction at the State Committee for Standardization have been vacant”.

President Lukashenko seeks to preserve the existing socio-political system, and has broadened the nomenclature’s powers in decision-making only pro forma. On a larger scale, he is neither interested in changing the government’s institutional design, nor in allowing the nomenclature to create formal institutions for promoting their interests.