The agenda featured a meeting on rural trade, hosted at the local district executive committee building.

Upon entering the hall and seeing the surroundings, the president admitted to feeling a strong sense of nostalgia. «I can’t say that the party [the Communist Party] played a decisive role in my life. There was plenty of everything. But I must say, and this may sound unpopular to some of you, especially to our young people, that today our country lacks precisely the governance system that once existed [in the Soviet Union],» said Aleksandr Lukashenko.

«So it’s both a task and a source of nostalgia. It is my firm conviction that we lack that governance system,» the head of state added.

«I feel this very keenly. And those who care about the state feel it too. These are not just my feelings of today or yesterday,» the president said. «Having served as president for so many years, I feel more acutely than anyone that we lack this system of state governance. We lack serious personnel work. No matter how hard I’ve tried to build a vertical chain of command and so on (which has been and remains a lifeline for the country), the structure just isn’t there.»

Aleksandr Lukashenko held up China as a positive example of a country that has moved forward and thrived by leveraging the Communist Party’s experience while preserving its governance legacy.

«I was often criticized for studying China’s experience and governance system. But they weren’t foolish enough to tear everything down. They learned from us and adopted many similar approaches. I don’t mean to say they copied us, but they took what was sensible and adapted it. They didn’t break anything: not ideology, not policy of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. No one tore anything down. That is probably one of the reasons for China’s success,» the Belarusian leader said.

«I suggest you give this some thought,» the president told those gathered at the meeting. «I know you’re not keen on it. Why would you want party bodies overseeing personnel matters and party bureaus to attend? You’re already managing things on your own [locally]. But from a state perspective, the system will have to be built and fine-tuned.»

«To many of you, this may come as a surprise, but many issues would be resolved differently and more effectively than they are now,» the head of state asserted.