On February 10, Minsk /BELTA/. Continuity must be maintained in the new convocation of the Belarusian parliament. This was stated by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko today at a meeting with the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly Vladimir Andreichenko, BELTA was informed by the press service of the Belarusian leader.
As the head of state noted, a practice has developed in Belarus whereby 20-25% of the deputies from the previous convocation are elected to the new parliament. "We need to have about a quarter of the deputies from the old parliament in the new parliament to maintain continuity. But these must indeed be deputies without any flaws in their work with the population, in their electoral districts. People will be more critical of them. Therefore, continuity is a very important issue."
"Secondly, no matter how much we democratize here, no matter how much we declare that we are far from this election process, I think you personally, as the chairman, will still have to take part in organizing this campaign. Perhaps even the Council of the House of Representatives should determine measures to assist the Central Election Commission," Alexander Lukashenko noted. "After all, deputies are representatives of our voters, and it is unlikely that anyone will make claims if they help to organize the election process in a humane, democratic way. Therefore, this also needs to be clarified."
"And, thirdly, since the work of the current parliament is ending, together with the government, primarily the chairmen of the commissions, the council, and you, we need to identify the priority issues that must be resolved in order to conclude this convocation beautifully and with dignity. This is also very important. And a number of other issues that may arise before the parliament in these last months of work," said the head of state.
Alexander Lukashenko also recommended that the deputies work actively with the population. "We have seen a significant improvement in the country's situation from an economic point of view. But, like any way out of a difficult situation, it happens unevenly. Somewhere, as I said yesterday at a meeting, they have reached salaries of $800-900, and somewhere they still don't reach $200. In a year or a year and a half, we need to restore the pre-crisis level of population income, perhaps even slightly exceed it, so that people understand that we were not just talking at the time. We promised - we must deliver. In this regard, I would like the deputies to step up their efforts," the President said. "That is, people need to be prepared for the parliamentary elections, and I think the deputies, each in their own constituency, should be engaged in this."
"We need to work with the administration and the government on pressing, burning issues that the deputies will take to the people, so that they can convey the President's point of view and talk to people. We must get feedback on the range of issues that we will resolve and must resolve on the eve of the parliamentary elections. No matter how you look at it, this is an exam for the authorities. These issues must be resolved in advance, so that the people criticize us less during the parliamentary elections and so that our "Svyadomyya" from the "fifth column" internally and especially in the West do not present us with claims regarding the composition of the future parliament," Alexander Lukashenko believes.
"I am confident that the parliament will be exclusively from the people. Talkers will not get there, but people who are ready to solve certain issues will come. You, together with the deputies, need to identify these issues. Let there be fifty, seventy, a hundred of them, but this will be our work program until the parliamentary elections. And some issues will remain for later," the head of state added.
Vladimir Andreichenko said that in their work, the deputies focus on the quality and deadlines for preparing draft laws. During the work of the previous ninth session of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the fourth convocation, more than one hundred draft laws were adopted. The work of Belarusian parliamentarians in the international arena was also successful. Thus, in September last year, the Parliament of Belarus received observer status in the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, and productive contacts with the People's Republic of China continued. A meeting of the Council of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly was also held in Belarus.
Deputies actively worked in their electoral districts, received citizens, and considered their appeals.
Intensive work is ahead for the upcoming, tenth, session, which will commence on April 2. Currently, the House of Representatives commissions have over 50 draft laws under consideration, including a new version of the Housing Code and a number of draft laws of an economic nature. Regarding international activities, the parliament is working towards obtaining observer status in the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in 2012.
The President drew attention to the need for more effective monitoring of adopted draft laws and for more frequent meetings with constituents and work collectives. Scientists, business entities, and specialists and managers of relevant fields should be more actively involved in the development of draft laws.
During the meeting, serious attention was paid to the issue of harmonizing national legislation with the treaty and legal framework of the Single Economic Space. The President also noted that foreign business trips of parliamentary delegations should be more productive, focusing not only on parliamentary issues but also on foreign trade activities, and raising topics of developing cultural ties, cooperation in healthcare, education, sports, and tourism. -0-
BELTA