Stanislau Shushkevich

Stanislau Stanislavavich Shushkevich (Stanisłaŭ Stanisłavavič Šuškievič, Belarusian: Станісла́ў Станісла́вавіч Шушке́віч) (b. December 15, 1934) is a Belarusian politician and scientist. From September 28, 1991 to January 26, 1994 he was first leader and head of state of independent Belarus after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (Chairman of the Supreme Soviet - also chairman of Parliament). He supported free market and democratic reforms and played a key role in the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Before his presidency he was a prominent Belarusian scientist, Corresponding Member of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences, Doctor in Physics and Mathematics, recipient of various state awards, professor, and the author and originator of award-winning textbooks and over 150 articles and 50 inventions.

On December 8, 1991, in Belavezhskaya Pushcha together with the leaders of Russia (Boris Yeltsin) and Ukraine (Leonid Kravchuk) he signed a declaration that the Soviet Union was dissolved and replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States, that later became known as the "Belavezha Accords".

Shushkevich withdrew from Belarus the vestigial Soviet nuclear arsenal (both tactical and strategic), without preconditions or compensation from Russia or the West. However, other reforms became stalled due to the opposition from a hostile parliament as well as from Prime Minister Vyacheslav Kebich.

In late 1993, Alexander Lukashenko, the then-chairman of the anti-corruption committee of the Belarusian parliament, accused 70 senior government officials, including Shushkevich, of corruption, including stealing state funds for personal purposes. Lukashenko's accusations forced a vote of confidence which Shushkevich lost. Shushkevich was replaced by Vyacheslau Kuznyatsou and later by Myechyslau Hryb.

Further investigation revealed that the accusations against Shushkevich were false.

In July, 1994 the first direct presidential elections were held in Belarus. Six candidates stood, including Lukashenko, Shushkevich and Kebich, with the latter regarded as the clear favorite. In the first round Lukashenko won 45% of the vote against 17% for Kebich, 13% for Paznyak and only 10% for Shushkevich.

In 2002 the world learned about a highly unusual court case. Shushkevich sued the Belarusian Ministry of Labor and Social Security: due to inflation, his retirement pension as a former head of state was the equivalent of one dollar and 80 cents monthly. [ [http://www.trud.ru/trud.php?id=200503030361101 Life of the Ex-presidents of CIS Countries] "Trud", March 3, 2005 ru icon] [ [http://www.svoboda.org/archive/ll_man/0302/ll.031102-1.asp "Stanislav Shushkevich"] , "Radio Liberty", March 11, 2002 ru icon] To earn income, Shushkevich lectures extensively in foreign universities including in Poland, the United States and Asian countries.

In 2004 he attempted to participate in parliamentary elections, but was refused registration by the electoral commission. He continues to be active in politics nonetheless, heading the Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly party as well as working to unify the opposition.

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