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19 Aug 2019

Belarus president updates tasks for ideology specialists

Belarus president updates tasks for ideology specialists

MINSK, 19 August (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko updated tasks facing the ideology power vertical as he appointed Andrei Kuntsevich Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration on 19 August, BelTA has learned.

As a deputy head of the Belarus President Administration Andrei Kuntsevich will have to oversee ideology and mass media. His considerable experience in these spheres, including professional training, was mentioned in this regard.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted: “I should say you will have to get down to work right away. There is no time for taking things slowly. An election campaign involves a lot of ideology work. You will have to focus primarily on ideology work starting with journalism and ending with, frankly speaking, lectures in universities. Meetings with young Belarusians, telling them about the policy the government pursues are the weakest spot of our civil servants. Because the young Belarusians that browse the Web don’t always read about this policy. And if they read about it, they often come across facts, which are turned inside out.”

Internet will also be your area of responsibility to some degree. Not from the point of view of shutting down and banning everything. I want the view of the government, the view of the president explained. The president does most of the work for now. And he will take care of these matters but certain officials, including you and the head of the administration, will pitch in. You two will be primarily the ones to work with people,” the Belarusian leader stressed.

Judging from his experience, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that ideology work involves many aspects. He said: “In my time I had to take care of ideology. One can say I’ve been doing it since I was a university student. I know how complicated, versatile, and hard this work is. And I often say that one cannot become the true master of people’s hearts and souls with the passage of time. You have to be born one. This is why if you have the aptitude for it, which can be enhanced with the passage of time, you will be able to do this job.”

Addressing Head of the Belarus President Administration Natalya Kochanova, Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that she had no right to make errors as she suggested candidates for such positions. “Nominating wrong people for these jobs – deputy heads of the Belarus President Administration – would be costly. I am told you [Andrei Kuntsevich] can do the job. Your profession – journalism – will help. If you’ve been doing it professionally up till now, it means you should be able to do it,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko told the new deputy head of the Belarus President Administration that he would have to do a lot independently and would have to set problems together with the head of the administration and the president. “I am not going to stay away from it. But the job is complicated. You have to be able to feel the spots where we underperform. I’ve already mentioned one of them – the Internet. But there are a lot of spots like that,” the head of state stated.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also gave a piece of advice: before meeting with people to discuss a problem and give instructions, one has to learn all one can about the problem first. “Sometimes new people start hosting seminars and giving instructions right away. Those, who participate in these seminars or conferences, sit and think their host doesn’t know anything about these things. This is why you have to very carefully approach these matters. You have to learn a lot about the problem first,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “Otherwise, you will repeat mistakes of previous executives, who had to take care not only of ideology but other matters as well.”

“If you get a top-ranking job, you shouldn’t think you are on top of the world and are free to pontificate while people sitting in front of you hear you, understand you, and will definitely do as you say. You should definitely avoid this kind of mistakes,” the Belarusian leader added.

Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned a number of advantages Andrei Kuntsevich has. In particular, he had worked with people at the municipal level and knows what the society and citizens need. Besides, he had worked as the deputy head of a region and knows the key problems.

Speaking about the ideological support for the forthcoming parliamentary elections, Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “You will have to do your job without interfering with the scope of work of the Central Election Commission and other authorities. The Belarus President Administration has been instructed to help the CEC – there are only a handful of people there – arrange this election campaign. You should find your place in this process. Provide ideology for this campaign.”

“I’ve defined the main directions. They need to be implemented. And the same applies to all the matters including the harvesting campaign. In the distant past regional committees and the central committee of the Communist Party described it as ideological support for the harvesting campaign. We don’t talk like that nowadays. Nevertheless, the Belarus President Administration should contribute to the harvesting campaign. In all the aspects. I say it openly because I believe it is necessary to pay a lot of attention to work with people. It can be described in different ways. Although the term is now spoken everywhere. Even by those, who used to criticize me not only domestically but abroad as well,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko wished Andrei Kuntsevich will show the necessary personality traits and win the acceptance and respect of the central government and Minsk residents.

Andrei Kuntsevich was born in Mogilev. He graduated from the Belarusian State University in 2002 majoring in journalism. He graduated from the Academy of Public Administration under the President of Belarus in 2007, with state administration and ideology as a major specialization. He held a number of jobs in the Shklov District administration and then the Mogilev Oblast Administration. He was appointed deputy chairman of the Mogilev Oblast Executive Committee in January 2017. It was his job before the post of the deputy head of the Belarus President Administration.

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