President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, in an interview with CNN, spoke about how long he might remain in the post of head of state, reports BELTA.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, in an interview with CNN, spoke about how long he might remain in the post of head of state, reports BELTA.
During the interview, the journalist mentioned the work being carried out in Belarus to update the Constitution. "I know you are controlling this issue. I want to ask: you are the first President of Belarus, do you think there will be a second President?" he asked.
"I swear, I am not going to be President even until death. I swear. Everything will depend on the situation in Belarus. If you, your patrons in the West, do not interfere from anywhere in our situation, and we feel confident and calm as a sovereign independent state, as a people who deserve to be sovereign and independent, believe me, everything will happen sooner than you think. But if you dare once again, as last year, to interfere in our events, it will be bad. It will be as you think now," the head of state stated.
The interviewer, stating that Alexander Lukashenko has been in the presidential post for 27 years, asked when he would resign. "For 27 years, as you said, I have been serving my people in this post. But I have not yet reached the age like yours in your Washington 'committee'. There, I think, the President is almost 90 years old. So let's take the age of your patron in Washington as a benchmark. Why not?" the President noted ironically.
"But don't worry, I won't reach that age. A person can be President as long as he wishes and is elected by the people. But if he is healthy and can govern the country. We have a difficult situation. Therefore, there must be an energetic, healthy person who is elected by the people and wants to be President. These are the main conditions," stated Alexander Lukashenko. "But I said one thing: there must be peace and quiet, so that what I created as the first President of Belarus is not destroyed. If you attack us, constantly bomb us, deprive us of our word, our face, and our independence, I will be the eternal President. I will defend what I have created together with the Belarusian people, even at the cost of my life."