‘Working with people is a top priority’

The President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has held a meeting on topical domestic political issues and preparations for the political campaigns. The event was attended by the heads of the houses of Parliament, the Head of the Belarus President Administration, the State Secretary of the Security Council, as well as the chairmen of the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the State Security Committee (KGB).

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“Autumn is the time to sum up the results and build a strategy for the coming year. Therefore, our most important task is to finish this year properly and start the next year. The results of the presidential elections will largely depend on this,” the Head of State said. “Working with people is a top priority in the activities of all heads — in regions, local power vertical, and central bodies.” 

The President drew special attention to the approaches in working with the population that officials must adhere to, “People need to be listened to, people need to be talked to, and people need to receive proper responses to the questions they pose to us.”
First of all, Aleksandr Lukashenko asked the participants of the meeting what issues were the most pressing at the moment, and then enquired about the effectiveness of work with public appeals.
In Belarus, the work with citizens’ appeals is built on a systemic level and is absolutely accessible to anyone, as stated by Aleksandr Lukashenko. The President reminded those present that in 2022, a large seminar was held on updating the forms and methods of working with the population, with Directive No. 2 finalised and set forth in a new version. Parliamentarians actively work in the regions, communicating with the population and helping people solve specific issues. The Belarus President Administration applies new, outside-the-box approaches. “However, we must keep in mind that the most important issue is work and wages,” the Head of State emphasised. Speaking about the upcoming presidential elections in Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko underscored, “These elections should complete the formation of a renewed political system of our state.” 
According to the President, a lot has already been done in this regard. Thus, the Belarusian People’s Congress has received a new constitutional status in the country’s political system, and the main approaches to its activities have been defined. “Still, a lot will have to be done before the presidential elections and during them,” the Head of State remarked. The most essential task highlighted by the Belarusian leader is the preparation for the upcoming new five-year plan, 
“Elections is common thing — we have held them more than once, and we will hold these ones, as well. What is really important is that we must prepare for the next five-year period, which will begin in 2026. Therefore, I think we need to hold the next Belarusian People’s Congress at the beginning of next year. We must present the strategy for the five-year period to the people and determine the major directions of our development.”
The President noted that the current meeting was the first in a series of events related to the future electoral campaign, and aimed to discuss the main outlines of the upcoming work. “I would like to discuss these issues with you and outline, in general terms, concrete steps for the preparation and holding of the main events — the Belarusian People’s Congress and the presidential elections,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko. “There is one question that I am not going to evade since the internet and the media keep speculating about it every day. There has been a stream of all kinds of insinuations and hype around this question, especially in recent weeks. This refers to the date of the upcoming presidential elections. Either Americans or our fugitives have even scheduled the elections and already announced the voting day, developing a bunch of conspiracy theories about this… 

According to the Constitution, the next elections of the President of Belarus must be held no later than July 20th [2025] — so this is the deadline by which we must hold the elections. It is necessary to be very mindful when determining the voting day and the period which will get the electoral burden, since labour resources will have to be refocused to the commissions that we will create. It is necessary to ensure that nothing disrupts the usual rhythm of life in our country,” the Belarusian leader stressed.

The President warned that it would not be easy, as opponents were already trying to shake up the situation. “They will pour new information flows of dirt. We see perfectly well and control everything that is happening around us — both outside our country and inside. I just want to advise them, as always: if they want to make a political upheaval in the country and participate in the presidential elections, prove their case or whatever, then they need to come and take part in the presidential elections — without street demonstrations, weapons, or sanctions. They need to come and explain to people why they ‘care’ so much about Belarus, why they are fighting against it and why they are planning an armed invasion of the territory of Belarus,” the Head of State commented on the opponents. 
Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that Belarus has a large number of such facts, and it is necessary to reveal them to people. 
The President also drew attention to the fact that opponents abroad are constantly asking for money from various structures to uphold their activities, and those are ready to allocate such funds — but only for specific purposes, “They keep on asking for money from the [US] Department of State, from Poles, and others in the European Union. When asked why they need it, they respond that they will use it to attack Belarus in the media. So they get an answer: ‘You already did that. There will be no money for this. Only armed actions on the territory of Belarus will be paid for’.”
The President spoke about the reasons for pardoning several dozen convicts, whom opponents considered to be political prisoners. The Head of State recalled that he had recently twice made decisions, which were publicly reported, to pardon several dozen so-called political prisoners. “They [fugitives] should be happy. They could have thanked me at the very least. But no, they are concerned with proving to themselves and those abroad that they have made a huge contribution and ‘forced the dictator’ to make such decisions,” the President noted. “First of all, no one can force me — it is out of the question. I have never made decisions at anyone’s behest or under pressure.” 
As for pardoning specific people, Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that those were his own decisions taken for various reasons. “Some of the convicts were seriously ill. Well, things happen in life. Some of them do not pose any danger now. Why keep them in prison and feed them at public expense? We have released them. They are under the full control of law enforcement agencies,” the Belarusian leader shared the details.
The President stated that instead of being grateful, the opponents abroad are not happy about this scenario. “Why aren’t they happy? This is because Americans and others reproach them for having failed to make their contribution. After all, no contribution — no money,” Aleksandr Lukashenko concluded.

Dmitry Krutoi, Head of the Belarus President Administration, has shared with journalists the details of the meeting with the President  

“The President has asked which topics are the most acute and concerning for our society. As you can see, our fugitive opposition, one way or another, comes up daily with an endless number of fakes related to various areas. We take it calmly,” noted Dmitry Krutoi. “Traditionally, people are concerned not about global political issues, but about specific everyday household and social problems related to the place where they live.”
The Head of the Belarus President Administration reported that about 30 percent of all citizens’ appeals are still related to housing and communal services. A large proportion of them relate to road construction and repair.
The Head of State has once again emphasised the great importance of the topic of employment and wages for people. However, the fugitives are trying to present the situation as if an ‘economic bubble’ associated with an outstripping rate of wage growth is observed in Belarus. Dmitry Krutoi has remarked that the unemployment rate in our country is now at a minimum level, with certain segments of the economy requiring more workers. There is nothing unusual about an increase in income — the growth is in accordance with the forecast parameters within the framework of the medium-term development programme for the country until 2025, as specified by the President Administration Head. “Despite the sanctions pressure — almost half of the sectors of the Belarusian economy are under various types of sanctions — we are fulfilling all forecast parameters.” 
By the way, these indicators will become the basis for the formation of the programme of socio-economic development of the Republic of Belarus for 2026-2030.

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by