Economist Yaraslaw Ramanchuk, who ran in the December 2010 presidential election, revealed Wednesday that he had drawn up his action plan for the ongoing economic crisis specially for Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
"For whom is this paper intended? I will answer simply: it is for Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka,"Mr. Ramanchuk said at a news conference that he held in Minsk in the evening to present his plan. "I promised it to him and I fulfilled my promise."
The following day after a mass post-election protest in Minsk on December 19, 2010, Mr. Ramanchuk, who escaped arrest unlike his fellow candidates, met with the Belarusian leader. He later told reporters that he had urged Mr. Lukashenka to release his close ally, Anatol Lyabedzka, and discussed with the head of state his economic platform.
"We discussed my economic program, my proposals for the country’s economic policy and the possibility of me taking an office in the cabinet, which I have lately been offered to do several times," said Mr. Ramanchuk. "Lukashenka said that he would consider the matter."
At a news conference held on the same day, Mr. Lukashenka said that if Mr. Ramanchuk submitted "specific business proposals," he would hire him, suggesting that the economist could join the staff of the Minsk city or Minsk regional government.
Mr. Ramanchuk sent out copies of his action plan to a number of high-ranking officials, including Mr. Lukashenka, on November 9.
The plan focuses on 12 areas in which Mr. Ramanchuk says the government should carry out urgent reforms.
