Opinions & Interviews
Lukashenko: New Constitution should benefit the country
An archive photo
MINSK, 27 November (BelTA) – It is important to work on the new Constitution in order to prevent the destruction of the country in the future. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement as he met with employees of Minsk City Clinical Hospital No.6 on 27 November, BelTA has learned.
Speaking about what measures are taken to counteract the coronavirus infection, Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned the establishment of special staffs in the regions and the important role that municipal authorities play. “Thank god, we have a power vertical. You may have noticed that our infamous protesters primarily strike at the president and the power vertical. They want democracy, they want to elect everyone… We saw that in Gorbachev's time,” he reminded. “Back then we could elect everyone, including heads of enterprises. What did we elect in the end? We lost the country and the USSR collapsed. Now they want us to fall for the same dirty trick.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed he is in favor of amending the Constitution and is convinced it is necessary to adjust the head of state's powers. “I am a proponent of the new Constitution. Not because we need some democracy. Democracy is not the point,” he said. “In this situation I am concerned about something else: we cannot give this Constitution to an unknown president. It will be a disaster.”
“We have a very serious Constitution. Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus are probably the three advanced countries that have such a serious and rigid Constitution in which everything depends on the president's decisions. From this point of view since I understand that, god forbid, if the new president wants to start a war and the rest… Yes, we need to create a new Constitution but it should benefit the country. I don't want the country to fall to ruin later on,” Aleksandr Lukashenko explained.
Aleksandr Lukashenko commented on proposals to elect members of the parliament in accordance with party lists and respectively to set up political parties. He is convinced that the implementation of these initiatives may split the society and lead to the emergence of groups with different interests. “It's all well and good when you see it in other countries – party lists and the rest. But if you want it and the nation votes in favor of it, it will happen. I am not going to shape the Constitution to suit my needs. I am not going to be the president once the new Constitution is in place. This is why calm down and weather it calmly. I will never allow someone to hit the wrong note in the course of adopting the new Constitution or rig an election in line with the new Constitution later on. Even if I know it is not something I want. Why? Because the Belarusian nation has to go through what it needs to go through. We'd better do it now, without a war. It would be worse if we are forced to go to war.”
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