Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 6 April (BelTA) – The All-Belarusian People’s Congress marks the start of a new stage in the life of the society, Belarus’ Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said at the first meeting of the national organizing committee of the event on 6 April, BelTA has learned.

“The All-Belarusian People’s Congress is a significant political event. It marks the end of the five-year period in the country’s development and also the start of a new stage in the life of our society and the state in general, taking into account the present geopolitical and economic realities,” Andrei Kobyakov noted.

A national organizing committee of the 5^th All-Belarusian People’s Congress was set up following the Belarus President's order. “The head of state set forth a number of tasks which implementation requires well-coordinated work from us,” the PM said.

First of all, proposals on the date of the 5^th All-Belarusian People’s Congress and the number of its participants should be submitted to the head of state before 15 April. Only decent candidates should be selected and people should be well-informed about it. It is also necessary to invite representatives of all categories of the population and foreign guests.

“The most important issue here is to present the draft program for the country’s social and economic development in 2016-2020 to the head of state before 15 April,” stressed Andrei Kobyakov. The draft program is a basic forecast document that will include priorities and key parameters for the country’s development during the current five-year period. The program is traditionally considered during the All-Belarusian People’s Congress. An interagency working group under the charge of Chairman of the Council of the Republic Mikhail Myasnikovich has been set up to develop the program.

According to Andrei Kobyakov, last year the draft program was considered and approved at the meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers with the participation of high ranking officials, including the heads of the both chambers of the parliament, the Presidential Administration and the State Control Committee. In Q1 2016 the draft program was finalized taking into account the President’s instructions and submitted to the Presidential Administration.

“We need to set up working groups to prepare for the All-Belarusian People’s Congress. These groups will conduct all the organizational and ideological work in line with the approved plans, prepare the corresponding materials,” said Andrei Kobyakov.

The members of the committee supported the Premier's proposals to decide on the list of working groups, their heads and secretariat. The first group will be in charge of organizational issues. It will be led by First Deputy Head of the Belarus President’s Administration Konstantin Martynetsky. The second one, on ideological matters, will be headed by Deputy Head of the Belarus President’s Administration Igor Buzovsky. The third working group will coordinate the work with mass media and will be led by Deputy Prime Minister Natalia Kachanova. The fourth working group will deal with representatives of the diplomatic corps, Belarusian diasporas, international organizations and foreign guests (it will be headed by First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Mikhnevich). The fifth group on logistic support will be led by First Deputy Head of the Department of the President’s Affairs Nikolai Selivanov. The secretariat of the national organizing committee of the 5^th All-Belarusian People’s Congress will be led by Head of the Board of the Council of Ministers Igor Sokol.

“The heads of the working groups should decide on the composition of the groups, working plans and provide the corresponding reports at the next meeting of the organizing committee,” Andrei Kobyakov said.