Opinions & Interviews
Lukashenko: My children will not be presidents
MINSK, 31 March (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said that his children would not serve as presidents as he delivered his annual Address to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly on 31 March, BelTA has learned.
“Any talk about heredity and succession must be stopped. My children will not be presidents,” the head of state said. He also stressed that he was not holding on to the post of the head of state, but under the current circumstances it was important to think about the future and the interests of the country and the people: “You see what the circumstances are. Many people would like to see Lukashenko gone. If they [those abroad] would like Lukashenko not to be here, we must do the opposite. It is my principle,” the president said.
These words of the president drew applause from those assembled in the Palace of the Republic.
“That does not mean I am going to hang on to this post. Never. I think about the future,” the Belarusian leader stressed. In this regard, according to him, it is very important to avoid possible negative consequences: attempts to harass those who stood by the president in 2020, and their children, attempts to mock the people in uniform. “I think about that, not about the thing they try to reproach me for, saying that Lukashenko ‘wrote the Constitution for himself’,” the Belarusian leader said.
In his words, the changes in the Constitution are oriented to the future stable development in the country, including the period when there will be a new head of state. “A new person will come. Who will he or she be? They will talk and promise you nice things about him/her,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “What will happen afterwards, when he or she is elected? We do not know that. That is why during the transition to a new government, even a new generation, we have to defend the country, those patriots who want to live in this country. That was my point when I proposed changes in the constitution.”
“Of course, you are now thinking: “Now he is going to say whether he will be the President or not. I reiterate: you will decide who will be your President,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “You will decide this. And stop talking about it. Until my last days on this post (and I am still going strong) I will be working for the good of our country. I have enough power to protect my country, especially now. I am more interested than you are (pardon my reproach) in keeping it safe, because I have put my whole life into it.”
“We together, as long as we are alive, will not give our achievements away. If we withstand, we will live and so do our children,” the head of state stressed. This statement was also met with applause from the audience.
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