Lukashenko forms working group to elaborate new edition of Belarus Constitution

<p> MINSK, Oct 21 - PrimePress. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has set up a working group to elaborate a new version of Belarus’ Constitution, the president’s press-service said in a release following Lukashenko’s meeting with members of the group on 21 October. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The working group comprises Head of the President Lukashenko’ Executive Office Igor Sergeyenko, Chairwoman of the upper chamber of Belarus’ parliament Natalya Kochanova and representatives of both parliamentary chambers, Deputy State Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Rakhmanov, Head of the Council of Ministers Office Konstantin Burak, Deputy Chairperson of the Constitutional Court Natalya Karpovich and judge Olga Sergeyeva, Chairman of Belarus Trade Unions Federation of Mikhail Orda, Presidential Aide Alexander Kosinets and Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences Prof. Alexander Radkov. </p> <p>   </p> <p> After the working group is through elaborating the document, the draft Constitution will be discussed by the Constitutional Commission and the put up for the referendum, Lukashenko explained. In his words, the working group should focus on a number of unresolved issues of principle, which, according to him, are quite a few. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “The main thing in the work of this group is to prevent the loss of balance in the system of government. It is important to avoid the overlapping of functions and authorities of key government agencies and to ensure the coherence of their work,” said Lukashenko. </p> <p>   </p> <p> In his words, special attention should be paid to the new body, the Belarusian People’s Congress. “We need to determine its status and competences. We need to do it carefully so as not to disturb the stability of the state machine and not to allow a dual power,” said Lukashenko. </p> <p>   </p> <p> In his opinion, the time has come to redistribute the powers between the authorities at the constitutional level. Their duties and areas of responsibility should be split, but the country should still remain a presidential republic, said Lukashenko. “And the Belarusian People’s Congress is being created not because someone in attendance or the incumbent president is craving to lead it, but in order to maintain the system of checks and balances, as lawyers say,” Lukashenko said. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, Lukashenko once again spoke about the possibility of adopting a new Constitution in June 2020 after former presidential candidate Viktor Babariko proposed to return to the 1994 Constitution, which significantly limited the powers of the president. Since then, Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian and Russian officials have repeatedly spoken about a possible constitutional reform in Belarus as a solution to the political crisis that has arisen in the country. Lukashenko said in September 2020 that he was going to call a new presidential election under a new Constitution. Although the Belarusian authorities have been talking about constitutional amendments since 2010, not a single draft or even a roadmap for constitutional reform has been made public. In an address to the VI All-Belarusian People’s Congress on 11 February Lukashenko announced that a new draft Constitution of Belarus will be ready in 2021 and would be discussed countrywide within a year. He confirmed that the referendum should be held no later than February 2022. </p> <p>   </p> <p> A 36-strong Constitutional Commission was established in Belarus, which was supposed to have submitted proposals to amend the constitution by August 2021. On 30 July, during a meeting with senior officials of local governments, Lukashenko said that he had returned for revision the draft constitution submitted to him. End </p>

2021-10-22

Primepress