Belarus’ business unions start working on proposals to amend Constitution

<h3>Belarus’ business unions start working on proposals to amend Constitution</h3> <p> MINSK, Oct 19 - PrimePress. The Kunyavsky Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers will continue discussing legal initiatives on constitutional amendment, involving its member organizations, the Union said following an enlarged meeting of the functional council on legal matters held on October 15, 2020. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The report says that within the framework of an expanded meeting of the Functional Council on Legal Issues of the BSPN, the heads of the country's leading business unions tried to develop a consolidated position on a possible amendment to the Constitution. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Transition to a parliamentary-presidential republic </p> <p>   </p> <p> Head of the functional council, former judge of the Constitutional Court of Belarus Valery Fadeyev proposes to indicate that Belarus is a “parliamentary-presidential republic” in Article 1.1 of the Constitution, that the state, its bodies and officials act within the bounds of the Constitution and laws adopted in accordance with it in Article 7.2, and that the administrative-territorial division of the state is determined by law in Article 9.3. Article 17 should establish that Belarusian is the state language and Russian can be used as an official language. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Fadeyev proposes to indicate that republican referenda are called by the parliament and to reduce to 150,000 the number of citizens (applicants) required to call a referendum. The expert also proposes to clarify the powers of the president taking into account the definition of the parliamentary-presidential form of government, bearing in mind, in particular, that presidential terms in office are limited to two. All members of government should be appointed by the parliament at the suggestion of the president. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Fadeyev proposes to entrust the appointment and dismissal of all judges of the senior courts to the parliament, and to provide for the demotion of the president in case of violation of the Constitution. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Honorary Chairman of the Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers Georgy Badei proposes to establish additional constitutional guarantees for business. He voiced indignation at gross interference of the authorities in activities of enterprises, including apparent extortions. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Badei believes that Section 7 of the Constitution (Financial and Credit System of the Republic of Belarus) should be significantly expanded, or a new section, possibly titled “The Role of the State in Socioeconomic Development of the Country” may be added. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Chairman of the Belarusian Union of Entrepreneurs Alexander Kalinin stresses the importance of forming a truly independent and professional judiciary in Belarus. Business will not feel fully protected without such reform, he says. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Chairman of the Republican Confederation of Entrepreneurship Vladimir Karyagin says the articles on local self-government need elaboration. He cites the Western world as an example, where local authorities determine the vector of development of cities and territories, joining efforts with the business community, and manage a significant share of collected taxes. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Business doubts that proposals will be heard now </p> <p>   </p> <p> According to the Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, participants in the meeting doubted that the authorities would hear their proposals, and that this is the right time to work on a new version of the Constitution. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Fadeyev does not really hope that the opinion of business unions will be taken into account. He says the work is being done to bear fruit in the future. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Chairman of the Belarusian Confederation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shvets says he is not sure that the Constitution should be amended now, considering the legal default and distrust in state institutions. He says problem is not whether the Constitution is good or bad, but that some of its norms are violated by the authorities. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers says that although consensus on the agenda was not reached, participants in the meeting decided to continue discussing legal initiatives, widely involving member organizations. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “No matter for what government, this or future one, this is being done, the business community should shape its own vision of the future Constitution,” says co-Chair of the Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers Zhanna Tarasevich. End </p> <p>   </p>

2020-10-19

Primepress