Belarus parliament elections

Lukashenko: I would not have become president without parliamentary experience

MINSK, 18 October (BelTA) - I would not have become president without the experience of parliamentary work, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said during the meeting at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of Belarus on 18 October, BelTA informs.

The head of state expressed an opinion that the parliament should include representatives of various professions and ages, including young people.

“We are always saying that youth is our future and so on. However, when people see a bunch of BRSM members in the mix for the parliamentary election they start saying that these youngsters are inexperienced and know nothing,” the Belarusian leader said. “But they know something that we don’t know, what young people know. This will be a certain filter. Our parliament needs representatives of various professions and ages.”

“The parliament is a very serious school of future executives. I would have never become president if I had not been elected to the parliament. I’ve learned so much there,” Aleksandr Lukashenko believes.

He added that the parliament is a forum and a clash of ideas per se. “This is it. We don’t see much fuss in our parliament. I have gone through it back in the day, we can see it in other countries. Is it okay? We don’t need this fuss as it will be transmitted to the society within a year and cause unrest. I have seen it as well. It did not do anything good to us,” the head of state said.

The president did not exclude that political parties might play a bigger role in the parliamentary life in the future. “We will arrive at it someday, and we will do in a nice way. Political parties need to be formed. There will be new people, new ideas. Political parties will rely on them. This is my opinion,” Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked. “But I also accept and study other options. If I find myself involved in this party-building process (it will happen sooner or later), I will do it. It is a normal process when people see different parties, different faces, not one person or a few people. It will happen. This is an important issue.”

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