Their Name Is Legion :: Charter'97 :: News

Last week Alyaksandar Lukashenka signed a law on perfection of peopleware of the ideology work in the country. According to our estimate, about 10 thousands of ideology workers are to work in Belarus.

From now on it is legally determined the situation that exists in practice: leaders of state and other organizations are personally accountable for ideology work in their collective. Under ‘other’ organizations all organizations are meant, irrespective of the form of ownership.

The decree of the president transforms the departments and sectors of information (social and political information) of the executive committees into departments and sectors of ideology. The number of employees of the new structures is increased as well. In executive committees of the regions and in Minsk executive committee there number is 15 employees. Number of staff servants in ideology departments of city and local executive committees depends on population of corresponding political units.

For example, in the information department of Minsk executive committee 10 people work now, and after this decree 5 more people are to be employed.

Professional ideologists would have to finish courses in the Academy of president. Deputy administrators on ideology in state institutions and organizations, editors-in-chief of state-run mass media, as well as deputy heads on ideology in all educational institutions (including the private ones) are to be appointed and dismissed only on agreement of the presidential administration or other state structures. Thus they receive some independence from their immediate leadership. This decree, as the president Administration informs, is by no means the last one.