Paval Kazlouski: “If I would appear before army with my son, people would think I had gone mad”

Paval Kazlouski, a former Defence Minister, has commented participation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s son in the military exercises Autumn-2008.

Mikalay Lukashenka had the same military uniform on as his father. He looked at the exercises through dark glasses, together with his father listened to reports of generals, visited the military forces’ strategic headquarters, where even journalists couldn’t enter.

The former Defence Minister Paval Kazlouski in an interview to Radio Svaboda said it was a show:

“The first impression is that it was some kind of a show. I remember his passage when he said that was his successor who would occupy the position of a president after him.

And when I was said yesterday that the president reviewed the troops after the exercises, his son in a uniform was putting his arm to the cap, I was very surprised at this stupidity. What the Commander-In-Chief needs his son near him for? For military men it has always been a solemn procedure. If I would appear in front of the troops with my little son, people would think that I had gone mad. It is an official part of summing up the results of the exercises. He is out of place there. A khaki had been sewed for him according to his size.

I do not have comments, as a general, as a person who had devoted my whole life to the army. I am embarrassed to see such nuances. I known, that the attitude of the officers who are serving in the army now to this matter is controversial, to put it mildly.

I was in the armies of the US, France, Germany, Moldova. No matter which army I visited, I have never seen such things,” the former Defence Minister said.

Recently Alyaksandr Lukashenka often appears in public accompanied by his youngest son. The both Lukashenkas visited the summit of the CIS leaders in Bishkek, where the youngest son was presented to Kyrgyz members of the parliament.

Besides, the leader of the country together with the 5-year-old Mikalay took part in a volunteer clean-up in front of TV cameras, visited Chernobyl regions and Beijing Olympic Games, voted during the “parliamentary elections” by Mikalay’s hand.