Notes in the margins and between the lines: details of Lukashenko’s work on Address’ final version disclosed
The President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, always carefully and thoroughly approaches the work on the final text of the Address to the Belarusian People and the National Assembly – as stated by Natalya Eismont, the press secretary of the Belarusian Head of State, in her talk with the STV channel, BelTA reports
The preparation of the text of the Address takes a long time. Firstly, the expert community prepares a package of documents, on whose basis a kind of plan-concept is formed, which at the first stage is presented to the Head of State. The President gets acquainted and expresses his point of view in terms of fundamental issues: the composition, structure, foundation, or ‘skeleton’ of the Address. This also applies to the content. Further on, options begin to form, a set of all these proposals is made.
Moreover, over the past few months, the President has held a number of important events, including a session with the security bloc, an expanded meeting of the Council of Ministers, and foreign business trips.
“I would also call all this a great preparatory work for the President’s Address,” the press secretary underlined.
According to her, on the eve of the event, Aleksandr Lukashenko always personally works on the Address, and changes can be made right up to the last moment.
“The President is now reading, thinking and reflecting very carefully. Very often this happens, and not only at such large-scale events, but also at many others, when the final edits are made to the text itself by the President’s hand. They are written in the margins, between the lines. It also happens that additional papers appear, where the Head of State makes footnotes for himself and writes what is being born ‘just about right’. By the way, this is very often the most interesting, the brightest and the most important,” said Natalya Eismont.
In recent years, Aleksandr Lukashenko has been delivering the Address not from the Oval Hall of the Government House, as before, but from the Palace of the Republic. There are reasons for that. In part, this was prompted by 2020 events when the colossal tension against the backdrop of the pandemic also spilled over into political processes.
“Of course, the Parliament is the most important platform, but at that time it was decided to fully implement the constitutional duty of the President to address not only the National Assembly, but also the Belarusian people. Of course, the whole country watches the President’s Address live on TV. But everyone understands perfectly well what it is like when 2,500 people listen to the President in the hall. This is the most important moment, very consolidating,” the press secretary added.
Recently, the President spoke in Khatyn about the need for society to unite.
“I am absolutely convinced that with the help of such events [as the Address], our society is being united and consolidated. Because when you hear the Address of the President here, the tasks set, some messages, you understand that this applies to you personally. This is such a personification in the highest degree. There is also a reverse side. I think that the President, speaking to such a large audience, is also in a more emotional mood to some extent, which also gives a slightly different character to this event,” said Natalia Eismont.
In an interview with journalists, the press secretary also noted the attention that is always riveted to the Address of the Head of State both in Belarus and abroad. Therefore, the understanding and awareness of the importance dictates more serious preparation rules. Every thesis, every word, every letter, sentence, and even a pause must be precisely thought of and verified.
“By realising this, the President is making tremendous preparations,” she said.
