Lukashenko says not grooming successor, will not support anyone publicly

MINSK. March 18 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that he had no plans to hand over power to his relatives.

Lukashenko is not considering handing over power to a successor and swore he would never hand it over to his family, loved ones, relatives or children, so this is out of the question, the Belarusian president said in an interview with Russia Today TV channel.

The power will go to the person who will win elections fairly, as Lukashenko did, the president said. Lukashenko said that he had won his first presidential elections while being a candidate of the opposition.

Lukashenko said that he had always won fairly and he expected his successors to follow the same path.

The Belarusian president said was not grooming a successor and would not publicly support anyone. The Belarusian people have to elect a president when the time comes, he said.

Lukashenko said that he was opposed to his sons going into politics. Lukashenko said that his younger son had seen what being a president meant when the boy was eight and he had never wanted to be a president even as a child. The Belarusian president said that he did not discuss work-related issues at home.

Lukashenko said that his sons were telling him that they were fed up with his presidency and they were not considering power hand-over.

The Belarusian president said that he was not discussing power hand-over at all, he was healthy and in working order.

At the same time, Lukashenko said that he was concerned who would get such a clean, neat and tidy country. Lukashenko said that he was afraid that all this could be broken and the country's enterprises could be sold out.

Lukashenko said that he wanted a determined and decisive person to be the country's president. Everything should go in line with the Belarusian people's will and lifestyle not only in Belarus but the world over, he said.

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