Meeting with proxies

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko held a meeting with his proxies on 22 July.

“The period is bumpy. You have probably already seen it for yourselves,” the head of state said at the start of the meeting. He added that he had asked for this meeting to take place now, as the proxies have already held a number of meetings with the voters and had the opportunity to understand the situation.

“We have something to talk about following this preliminary period. I am not going to give you instructions, especially since you know my point of view. It is undergoing some changes of course. This is however happening not because I am giving up on what I said at the very beginning. This happens because the situation is changing, the environment is changing, and it is changing very fast. There are issues we have to discuss. Most importantly, I have to answer the questions that you have already received from our people,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Speaking about the group of proxies, the President said that this time it was formed very carefully. “These are not just people of authority. These are certainly people who form opinions in our society. These are people who work with the current head of state. So, of course, they are vested with appropriate powers. This is how people will consider you. When you meet with them, they look at you this way,” said the Belarusian leader.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said that before approving the group of proxies, the biographies of these people had been considered. “I was briefed on every detail. The list of proxies was approved probably from the third time. I was against the inclusion of all our governors in this group. We have spent a long time on making up the list. I agreed with its last version,” said the head of state.

He added that he knows everyone in the group. “We will have to go through a difficult period, these two or three weeks before the election. I want you to keep in mind, and people should know this, that our life does not end with the elections, and the problems that we have will not end with it. We will see more of it after the elections,” the President said.