House of Representatives doesn't distinguish the Belarusian language from Russian
Member of the United Civil Party Viktar Malochka received an answer from the House of Representatives to his complaint concerning a violation of the language legislation by two MPs from the Salihorsk district, Yauhen Abalenski and Taisa Danilevich.
The UCP has maintained the correspondence with the "people's representatives" concerning the need to build a new clinic in the city, since August. The MPs ignored his first appeal. After his complaint to the prosecutor's office, the parliamentary commission on regulations made an admonition to them for violating the Law “On Applications of Citizens”. The MPs paid a prompt reaction to the admonition and quickly responded to the Salihorsk activist. However, they did it in the Russian language, whereas he had written to them in Belarusian, and the law obliges state officials to give answers in the language of the application.
That's why Mr. Malochka had to appeal the actions of the MPs at the Office of the Prosecutor General. After a long travel through various state agencies a substantive response was given by the same Standing Commission of the House of Representatives on State Building, Local Government and Regulations. Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee, V. Zhurauskaya wrote: "As stated by the MPs Danilevich T.I. and Abalenski Ya.V., the answers to You were given in the Belarusian language”.
“It is even hard for me to comment on it, as far as I attached the copies of the answers in the Russian language to my appeal. What information from the MPs are they talking about? It seems to my that the Parliament is unable to distinguish the Belarusian language from Russian,” says Mr. Malochka.
The activists says that he has received one answer in Belarusian during the mail correspondence with the MPs. However, the annex to it, containing a detailed response from the Department of Health of Minsk City Executive Committee, was also in Russian.
