MINSK, 25 January (BelTA) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko met with Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly Vladimir Andreichenko to discuss the personnel potential of the lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament, its law-making and international activities on 25 January, BelTA has learned.
The head of state wanted to know about the law-making activities of the parliament and asked to characterize its composition from the point of view of the personnel potential. “I would like you to characterize the parliament. Please compare it with the parliaments you have been working with before. What trends do we have? Are there promising people?” Alexander Lukashenko wondered. “You know that the parliament is the foundation of the future. People are tested there. What can you say about people working in the parliament? Can they further work as civil servants on different posts? The level of an MP is a very high level.”
The president also touched upon the international activities of MPs. He spoke not only about the international contacts in law-making. “There is also a big economic component, and a diplomatic one,” the Belarusian leader stressed.
The National Assembly of Belarus has formed 73 working groups on cooperation with the parliaments of other countries, 13 delegations for interaction with international parliamentary organizations, and commissions for cooperation with the parliaments of Ukraine and Armenia.
In 2017, Belarusian MPs visited 28 countries. The House of Representatives welcomed delegations from more than 40 countries, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, China, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, Sudan, and Thailand.
Interparliamentary cooperation has been increasingly vibrant. Minsk hosted the annual session of the OSCE PA and the session of the Central European Initiative Parliamentary Assembly. Belarusian MPs have been developing cooperation with PACE, the CIS IPA, CSTO PA, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Belarus-Russian Union State, have expanded other international ties.
The parliament of Belarus is officially represented as a permanent observer at the sessions of the Latin American Parliament. The dialogue with the Pan-African Parliament and the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference is in progress.
The fourth session of the House of Representatives of the sixth convocation will start working on 2 April 2018. Permanent commission of the lower chamber are now working out 17 draft laws for the adoption in the first reading and 20 laws in the second reading.
The legal support of the social and economic development of the country in line with program documents and instructions of the head of state to raise the investment appeal, promote business, and create normal living conditions for people plays an important role. In this context, plans have been made to finalize draft laws on public procurement, consumer protection, drinking water supply, transport and logistics.
The parliament is also working on draft laws to improve the quality and competitiveness of Belarusian products. These include documents on the manufacture and use of organic products, safety of food raw materials and foodstuffs, genetic engineering safety.
Apart from that, the MPs are finalizing the legislation on defense, protection of state secrets, on the population register, on legal acts and international agreements, on proprietary and related rights, on electronic documents and electronic digital signatures.
In the near future the House of Representatives will host a seminar to discuss the efficiency of law-making activities and parliamentary hearings on improvements in the energy sector.
