Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko: The new Constitution is not being made to fit the current president and the government

MINSK, 25 November (BelTA) – The updated Constitution of Belarus is not being created to accommodate the current president and the government. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement at a joint session of the Constitutional Commission and the working group in charge of polishing the Constitution draft in the Palace of Independence on 25 November, BelTA has learned.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “I would like to once again point out that we should take a look at all the norms and all our conclusions, which we made when we set out to amend the Constitution. Right up to whether we need the referendum or not, whether we need a new Constitution, an amended Constitution.”

The head of state explained that some people, including supporters of the current government, believe that changing the Constitution is not necessary. “Many say we don’t have to change anything, we don’t need to change the Constitution. We cannot brush it aside,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed. “We may face a situation when our people support us while some of our people, some of the supporters of the current government do not support the new Constitution not because they don’t support us but because they don’t think we should change the Constitution.” According to the president, such people believe that the current president should continue working as long as possible and that the time-tested Constitution, under which the country was created and the state was protected, should remain in place.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “I always emphasize it: we are not creating the Constitution to suit us [the current government]. Even more so, the current president.”

He went on saying: “If some think that I hold on to my chair so hard that my arms have gone blue already, you are mistaken. I properly assess the situation and my capabilities. And it is not about the capabilities. The thing is that those, who come behind you and behind us, are young Belarusians, who have yet to smell gunpowder. They believe that everything is in the Internet, including potatoes, carrots, and bananas.”

The head of state added: “Our generation didn’t fight in a war either but after the war many had a rough time in the Soviet Union.” Back then different goals were set before the society. They were more global. Public interests were prioritized over personal ones. “We had to demonstrate our system. And we demonstrated it. We preserved it. We went into space and created something else. We protected and preserved the country but we missed details,” the Belarusian leader noted. “We missed the details and ended up with the country getting destroyed.”

This is why now it is necessary to carefully weigh all the opinions, discuss all the nuances in order to make things better for the country’s future, Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out.

“I think we have to organize the referendum. Yes, they are getting ready to make things difficult for us and the rest. But if we are a society, if we have created a sovereign and independent state, then we have to survive. We survived in August 2020. This question rose back then, too and I saw it. Many suggested rescheduling [the presidential election] and voting by mail saying nobody would condemn us due to the pandemic. I didn’t go for it,” the president stated.

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