New Constitution must not destroy existing system of government in Belarus – Lukashenko

<p> MINSK, Nov 4 - PrimePress. The new Constitution must by no means destroy the existing system of government in Belarus. President Alexander Lukashenko warned against this at a meeting with the working group in charge of elaborating the constitution on 4 November. </p> <p>   </p> <p> A new draft Constitution was presented to Lukashenko. “I have received the latest version of the Constitution that takes into account our latest arrangements, I have studied it. Today we will try to raise the most pressing issues,” Lukashenko said. In his words, another meeting of the working group will be needed, “and then, as promised, we will submit the version to the Constitutional Commission,” said Lukashenko. </p> <p>   </p> <p> According to the president’s press service, a public discussion of the draft constitution will take place in the future, and the final version will be put to a national referendum. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The work on the Belarus Constitution draft is nearing completion, said head of the Belarus President Administration Igor Sergeyenko. </p> <p>   </p> <p> He noted that a principled decision on the role of the Belarusian People’s Congress was made. Nevertheless, some points still have to be finalized. “This also pertains to the powers of the Belarusian People’s Congress. It might be necessary to supplement and evaluate certain points so that the powers of the Belarusian People’s Congress will not conflict with the actions of the president and the parliament and that the system of government in our country will remain balanced. In general, we reached an understanding of the position, role, powers, functioning and status of the Belarusian People's Congress,” BelTA reports citing Sergeyenko as saying. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Natalya Kochanova, chairwoman of the upper chamber of Belarus’ parliament, said that the Belarusian People’s Congress could get the status of the country's highest representative body in the new constitution. </p> <p>   </p> <p> According to Natalya Kochanova, functions of the Belarusian People's Congress may include some personnel decisions and the ability to rescind decisions of government agencies. “This government body will have serious authority,” BelTA reports citing Kochanova as saying. </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 in March 2021, which was supposed to have submitted proposals to amend the constitution by August 2021 and president he draft to Lukashenko. Since then, he has returned the draft constitution for revision several times. In October, Lukashenko formed a working group to elaborate the draft constitution. End </p>

2021-11-05

Primepress