Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 20 December (BelTA) – The Council of the Republic will develop parliamentary monitoring, Chairman of the Council of the Republic Mikhail Myasnikovich noted when closing the third session of the upper house of the Belarusian parliament on 20 December, BelTA informs.

The senators need to work to improve parliamentary monitoring along with the lawmaking activities, the speaker underlined. He clarified that this does not apply to a particular kind of control. “The Council of the Republic should get a feedback from local legislatures to monitor the implementation of laws, the efficiency of their norms and law enforcement practices, and to find out what should be done to improve the legislation,” Mikhail Myasnikovich remarked.

The speaker formulated some common short-term tasks. He instructed the senators to step up cooperation with the House of Representatives, the Council of Ministers, the Belarus President Administration, the National Center of Legislation and Legal Research, and other government bodies at all stages of the lawmaking process. “We should integrate with this process in a very natural way,” he stressed.

The second Congress of Scientists of Belarus with the participation of the Belarus president took place on 13 December, Mikhail Myasnikovich recalled. The congress adopted bold strategic decisions in scientific and innovation development for the period up to 2040. The speaker expressed confidence that such horizons can be outlined by a state that is confident about its policy, has a stable economy, effective social standards and trust of the population. These conditions are in place in Belarus, he added. The speaker urged the upper house of the parliament to form the systemic legislation that would ensure efficient scientific, technical, and innovative activity.

Mikhail Myasnikovich also touched on the business liberalization regulations adopted by the head of state. The Chairman of the Council of the Republic believes it is a very important yet first phase of the big work. The MPs, according to him, need to align these regulations, in the shortest time possible, with a vast array of the regulatory documents and to ensure the information support of their implementation.

“While continuing the work during the inter-sessional period, we should bear in mind the need to ensure the efficacy of the laws. The laws should not turn into ‘a law library’. They should be applicable,” Mikhail Myasnikovich noted.

Another important goal is to unify and align the legislations of Belarus and Russia regulating business activities, mutual access to markets, Mikhail Myasnikovich said. The third session on the Union State development proved to be very informative. Members of the Council of the Republic actively promoted the Belarusian proposals on the priorities for further development of the Union State in 2018-2022. “The work on the document was not easy. We had to convince not so much our Russian partners but the Union State officials. Our arguments were persuasive. As a result, the draft reflected all the initiatives pt forward by the Council of the Republic,” the speaker noted.

The speaker recalled that recently Bryansk hosted the 53rd session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Belarus-Russia Union State parliamentary hearings on the convergence of the Belarusian and Russian laws to ensure equal rights of citizens. “We intend to continue working to develop the single legal space of Belarus and Russia,” Mikhail Myasnikovich added.