MINSK, 1 December (BelTA) – Sport, healthcare and politics should not mix, chairwoman of the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Health, Physical Culture, Family and Youth Policy Lyudmila Makarina-Kibak told the media on 1 December, BelTA has learned.
On 1 December the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus played host to a meeting of the MPs of the House of Representatives and the members of the Council of the Republic with the leadership of the Belarusian Paralympic Committee. The MPs discussed the situation that arose following the decision of the Extraordinary General Assembly of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in Berlin made on 16 November to suspend Belarus' membership in the IPC.
“MPs, as well as all the citizens of our country, are indignant with the decision of the International Paralympic Committee to suspend the membership of the Republic of Belarus in the IPC. We are well aware that sport should not mix with politics, and neither should healthcare. Today sport as well as the Paralympic movement has become politics,” said Lyudmila Makarina-Kibak.
Plans are in place to adopt a joint statement of the House of Representatives' Standing Committees on Health, Physical Culture, Family and Youth Policy, on Labor and Social Issues, on International Affairs, as well as the Council of the Republic's Standing Committees on Education, Science, Culture and Social Development, on International Affairs and National Security to condemn the politically biased decision of the International Paralympic Committee.
“People with disabilities are special people. With their commitment to sport they show strength of will for all citizens of the Republic of Belarus. We have always loved to root for them, to watch them train. Today, when we see such injustice, we have decided to convene three committees of the House of Representatives, invited our counterparts from the Council of the Republic to adopt a statement, which will be submitted to the International Parliamentary Movement. We want to raise awareness not only of the Republic of Belarus but also of the whole world, because it is unfair. We should allow people with disabilities to participate not only in sports, but in general, with their life example to show how to love life, how to actively participate in it,” the MP said.
