Meeting to discuss proposals for the new government

Proposals for the new government are high on the agenda of the meeting chaired by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

“Before I make a decision on the main item of today's agenda, I would like to consult with you. It is about a new government. I have already talked about it. I gave appropriate instructions, you all were working on this issue. I previously made a statement that in the run-up to the election the incumbent president appoints the new government for people, voting for or against, to understand who will be dealing with the pressing issues related to their life, the social and economic development of our state,” the head of state noted.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, the participants in the meeting held a number of consultations, looked into the current government and new candidates, and made the appropriate proposals yesterday. “Nevertheless, I would like to consult with you, people who are involved in the formation of the new government and who make proposals to the president. We are talking about the new government. I would like to remind everyone that we started forming the future government about six months ago,” the Belarusian leader said.

The president recalled that then new ministers were already appointed to the government. The former government members left the offices either in connection with the transfer to a new job, or, in rare cases, for failing to deliver the results. “Due to an illness, or other reasons people quit the government jobs in favor of less responsible jobs. We were forming the government for six months. Therefore, there is no expecting some kind of revolutionary reshuffle,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.

Another reason why a complete government reshuffle is undesirable is the ongoing crisis in the world economy amid the pandemic, the head of state said. “It would be very bad as the entire world is facing the unprecedented economic crisis, which has led to serious changes in relations in society in every state. The consequences of this crisis will be really damaging. Therefore, a complete government reshuffle be wrong in the current moment. There is no need for that at all. A new generation of leaders has grown up. They have made a good showing and worked well in the government. Why do we have to change them? They can continue to work,” the president said.

“Those who cannot cope with such a volume of work in the current crisis period should, of course, be replaced and sent to another job,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.

The president provided one more argument in favor of discussing and adopting the relevant decisions as soon as possible. “I have already said: the global crisis has been affecting Belarus as well. It is good that we have not stopped the production facilities amid the ongoing pandemic. If we had stopped, we would have never relaunched it. This can only happen in a fairy tale,” said the Belarusian leader.

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that during this crisis period it is important to keep even the smallest momentum. “We need to work harder, especially in the economic sector, to get out of the crisis, that nobody has expected, with minimal losses,” said the president.

He asked the participants in the meeting to express their views on the government as a whole and specific candidates in particular.

Attending the meeting were Natalya Kochanova, Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic, Vladimir Andreichenko, Chairman of the House of Representatives, Igor Sergeyenko, Head of the Belarus President’s Administration, and Andrei Ravkov, State Secretary of the Security Council.