Reports of Aleksandr Kosinets and Valery Mitskevich

Belarusian President, Chairman of the Belarusian People's Congress Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian People's Congress Aleksandr Kosinets and Head of the Secretariat of the Belarusian People's Congress Valery Mitskevich to receive their reports on 23 May.

“I asked you to team up with interested and responsible people to decide on the system of work with delegates of the Belarusian People's Congress. We need to decide on the structure of the Secretariat and on the general structure in the country. The structure and the system are two priority issues,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “We need to plan our work, so the working plans of the Presidium of the Belarusian People’s Congress and the delegates in general will be important for us.”

The head of state asked what has already been done in this direction and what issues still need to be solved. “What do I personally need to do for this machine to start working? The main thing here is communication (your communication, my communication, the Presidium’s) with the delegates of the Belarusian People's Congress so that they do not feel disconnected and alienated from the issues they need to address. It is crucial for us to show the society that the delegates do not substitute other authorities,” the chairman of the Belarusian People's Congress said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko added that the governing bodies of the Belarusian People’s Congress have already been receiving and will continue to receive appeals from citizens. The President emphasized that these responsibilities must not be shrugged off.

“Delegates of the Belarusian People's Congress should deal with these appeals in the first place. Appeals are different however. Ordinary appeals of citizens to the executive bodies, the Belarus President Administration are one thing. The Belarusian People's Congress is a completely different body, which does not repair fences and roofs. Nevertheless, no appeal should be ignored. We should organize our work in such a way that any appeal addressed to the Belarusian People's Congress can reach the relevant bodies that will make the corresponding decision. Our main task is to show people the issues that fall within the competence of the Belarusian People's Congress. The Belarusian People's Congress is a kind of a political nuclear shield, which is used in exceptional cases, if it is necessary to hold an extraordinary meeting. These are decisions of a strategic nature only - not fences or roofs, not even balconies. At the same time, we cannot turn people away. Therefore, we need to establish such a connection with the delegates so as to ensure any appeal is properly addressed,” the Belarusian leader said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also touched upon the operation of the Presidium of the Belarusian People’s Congress and its future interaction with delegates. “I think you should stay in constant communication with groups of delegates, not each delegate separately. How will these groups be formed? We have to think about it and made the corresponding decisions. We will hold a meeting of the Presidium and approve the mechanism of work,” he said.