Sergey Gaydukevich
BelarusBiography of Sergey Gaidukevich
Sergey Vasilyevich Gaidukevich, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus, was born on September 8, 1954, in Minsk. He started his career as a military officer and rose to the position of deputy commander of the Air Defense Forces. Gaidukevich graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School of the Air Defense Forces in 1976. From 1976 to 1991, he served in various command positions in the Armed Forces of the USSR, including as part of a group of military specialists in Iraq from 1982 to 1983. After retiring in 1991, he worked in the State Secretariat of Belarus and served as the deputy chairman of the committee for social protection of law enforcement officers and internationalist soldiers. Concurrently, from 1991 to 1994, he led the People's Movement of Belarus.
In 1995, Gaidukevich became the leader of the little-known Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus. While he actively participated in its creation, the position of chairman was initially held by Vasiliy Krivenko. However, when Gaidukevich took over the leadership of the party, it experienced a split, with several regional organizations dissatisfied with the change in leadership. The split was resolved by 1996.
In 1997, Gaidukevich completed his law degree at the Moscow Commercial Institute. On August 14, 2001, he registered as a candidate for the presidency of Belarus. During the presidential elections, Gaidukevich received 2.5 percent of the votes, placing last. He personally congratulated Alexander Lukashenko on his victory.
On October 17, 2004, Gaidukevich was elected as a deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus. In the summer of 2005, he filed a lawsuit against the editor of the independent newspaper "Narodnaya Volya," Iosif Seredich, seeking protection of his honor and dignity. Gaidukevich claimed that the newspaper had spread false information about him, including allegations that he owed one million dollars to the Iraqi Ministry of Energy during Saddam Hussein's regime. The court deemed these allegations offensive and false and ordered the newspaper to pay Gaidukevich a compensation of 100 million Belarusian rubles (approximately $45,500).
In 2006, Gaidukevich decided to run for president again. On February 17, 2006, he was registered as a candidate, positioning himself as a supporter of the incumbent head of state, Lukashenko, and criticizing opposition candidates Alexander Kozulin and Alexander Milinkevich. Gaidukevich received 3.5 percent of the votes and placed third. President Lukashenko was among those who voted for him.
Sergey Gaidukevich is married and has two children. He has a passion for music (having graduated from a music school playing the accordion), poetry (he writes his own poems), literature, fishing, and hunting. He has been awarded the Order "For Service to the Homeland" of the third degree.
