Events

31 Mar 2023

Lukashenko against party of power, bought-and-paid-for foreign agents in Belarus

MINSK, 31 March (BelTA) – Having different political forces striving for power can be detrimental to interests of the society. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the relevant statement in his Address to the nation and the parliament on 31 March, BelTA has learned.

The head of state reminded that less than one year is left till the next election campaign in Belarus. “We have never had such a massive election process yet,” Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked. Preparations for the elections are already in progress: electoral legislation has been updated, the legal framework for the operation of the civil society and political parties has been determined.

“Frankly speaking, political pluralism is nothing but a tribute to Western fashions. If you remember, pluralism as a political term came into use in the times of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev. So what did we do with pluralism? We lost the country. I repeat: parties are created in order to fight for power. If different political forces strive for power, it is not simple competition of views and systems. It splits the society. It sometimes results in a loss of constructiveness.”

“Nevertheless, we’ve never impeded and will not impede party system development,” he pointed out. It is particularly true for initiatives originating from the people, who sincerely love their country, their home, their family, strive for a peaceful future for their kids, Aleksandr Lukashenko added.

“But I repeat there will be no foreign agents funded by foreign countries in our political field. That’s the end of it! And there will be no party of power either,” the president stated.

Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded he went to his first presidential election with the program “Not with the left, not with the right, not with the party, but with my own people!” “My stance has not changed,” he stressed. “Whatever party or public movement they represent, MPs should first and foremost serve people instead of interests of individual oligarchs and politicians. Even more so foreign ones.”

Continuing the line of thought, Aleksandr Lukashenko referred to events in Georgia: “When MPs touched upon the matter of protecting their political field from foreign influence (the law on foreign agents), Americans and Brits started mayhem right there and then.” Speaking about causes of it, the president stressed that Anglo-Saxons had feared that they might lose their influence in Georgia. “And they suppress any opportunity for this beautiful and excellent country to get independence. They showed who is boss,” the Belarusian leader explained. “It once again confirms we are on the right track.”