MINSK, 20 April (BelTA) - Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko is considering the possibility of carrying out a reform of state governance in the country. The Belarusian leader said this in an interview with RT, BelTA has learned.
“We need to seriously reconsider how we govern the country. Perhaps even carry out a reform of state governance, using the experience of the old system, which the Westerners, especially Americans, advised us to fight against,” the Belarusian leader said.
He recalled how back in the days of the Soviet Union “well-wishers” from the West incited people to fight against the leading and guiding role of the Communist Party, which was enshrined in the Constitution. And later, after the collapse of the Union, the same people gave plenty of advice and suggestions on how to build life going forward. “But, as it has turned out today, all of that was lies, Western lies,” the president said.
“The Westerners recommended above all a multiparty system, then pluralism of thought, and so on, and so forth. They gave us recommendations, and we followed them. Out in front was, of course, Russia, with [First Russian President Boris] Yeltsin at its helm. Then everyone else followed. The cult of money and prosperity was planted right into our brains. Many people, having lost their way, snatched up the most tempting pieces for themselves to become well-off, rich, and so on,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “What did this lead to? You know this, especially from the example of Russia. Those who could, those who were closer to power, took oil and gas enterprises, became significantly wealthy.”
He emphasized that he had not been a supporter of such a course and, as a deputy, voted against the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Aleksandr Lukashenko does not deny that there were certain shortcomings in both the Communist Party and the system of party building in the USSR. They needed to be identified and worked on correcting. That was exactly what Aleksandr Lukashenko was doing at the time, he was a constructive oppositionist within the party. "Perhaps a reform of the Soviet Union was needed. We had more than enough foolishness. Just like you in the USA have a lot of good things, but you also have plenty of foolishness,” he said.
“And when I became president, even without the kind of power I have now, I started reforming the country,” the head of state said. “We reversed those foolish reforms [suggested by the West] in the harshest possible way. We began to live within our means.”
According to him, in difficult situations where you must choose a path, you need to listen not to the advice of others, but to your own people. “My position came from life itself. This is a principle I still hold to: if you don’t know what to do, you have to go to the people, they will show you the way. They may not tell you directly, but you must see what needs to be done tomorrow based on real life,” the Belarusian leader explained.
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