July 20th is actually a special day in the calendar of Belarusian statehood: President Aleksandr Lukashenko made his first oath to all Belarusians on that day in 1994 – as recalled by Irina Dovgalo, a member of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly
The MP noted that Aleksandr Lukashenko was supported by 80.34 percent of voters in the second round of the first Presidential election on July 10th, 1994, and the first inauguration took place ten days later.
“At the age of 39, the Head of State solemnly swore ‘to faithfully serve the people of the Republic of Belarus, to respect and protect the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, to observe and protect the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus’, and he has been faithfully serving his country and his people for more than thirty years already – never breaking this oath. Already then, the President called for national accord, as the latter actually affects the situation not only inside the country, but also the attitude towards our country in the international arena. Moreover, he repeatedly noted that Belarusians will be rocked from the inside, which means that we must be strong and united,” Ms. Dovgalo stressed.
As noted by the MP, all words of the Head of State are becoming stronger and more relevant from year to year, and their significance is growing. “We can assert for sure when speaking about our President that he takes no vows that he cannot keep,” she said, adding that this truth can hardly be argued: after all, the more false promises people make, the more devalued words become.
“We see this in the context of a number of foreign leaders, and even ‘the all-powerful collective West’ says that ‘a president can give a promise and then take it away’. In reality, there is a real war going on, and the position of the country’s leader is fundamental for its development or degradation. Our President is notable for adhering to a hard-and-fast principle: the state is for its people,” Ms. Dovgalo said.
The MP clarified, “No matter how much the false politicians strive to endlessly talk about the ‘dictatorship’ in our country and our President, the only dictatorship that is possible in a country striving to enter the world community on equal terms is the dictatorship of the law. That’s exactly what the young Head of State declared then, and now – 31 years on – Aleksandr Lukashenko is Belarus’ leader, Commander-in-Chief and the best President in the world.”