BREST OBLAST, 21 October (BelTA) – There will be no decentralization of power in Belarus after bringing the power vertical into line with the updated Constitution and after granting broad powers to the Belarusian People's Congress, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told reporters at the Obuz-Lesnovsky training ground in Brest Oblast, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko assured that there is no decentralization and cannot be. Moreover, the Belarusian People's Congress itself is not something new to Belarus. “The Belarusian People's Congress will only strategize and oversee the implementation of this strategic task. Therefore, the president will remain the head of state,” he said.
The same will apply to those who will run the country after the incumbent president. The head of state, the head of government, and other government agencies will have their own roles. “There will be more democracy as the president will no longer be in charge of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, and the Central Election Commission. This responsibility will be assumed by the Belarusian People's Congress. Thus, no one will be able to say that the Central Election Commission messed up vote counting, or that judges are dependent on someone and so on,” he remarked.
He emphasized that everything will be done strictly in line with the Constitution. Moreover, the bills discussed by the president the day before, including those on the Belarusian People's Congress, will be made public so that people will be able to contribute their views and proposals. These bills do not say that Aleksandr Lukashenko will appoint something or someone. “The Belarusian People's Congress is the highest body of representative power – everything will be done exclusively through elections. The exception will apply to people who will occupy positions ex officio, like the incumbent president, the prime minister, parliament members and senators who have already been elected by people. They represent the majority of the people,” the president said.
The Belarusian People's Congress will also include representatives of civil society, but not representatives of political parties. “Political parties will nominate their members to the parliament. The parliament will have representatives of political parties. And all of them will get to the Belarusian People's Congress,” the head of state said revealing the details of the mechanism.
He dismissed speculations that he will personally handpick everyone for the Belarusian People's Congress as an outright lie. “The Belarusian People's Congress is an elected body. Everything will depend on the people. Lukashenko will not have to appoint everyone there,” the president said. According to him, nobody will elect enemies of the people. They will not get there. “People with their own point of view are welcome, but they will have to stick to certain rules that will be established for everyone. If people show trust in them during elections, they will get there,” the president assured.
Speaking about presidential elections, Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that nothing will change here: “People will elect the president.” However, the head of state admitted that he is more of a supporter of the Chinese election model where the president of the People's Republic of China is elected by professionals - members of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. And at the same time, no one can say that the Chinese leader does not have enough power.
“Perhaps, we should follow suit. I do support such a model. But I feel like our people are not yet ready to delegate their right to elect the president to someone else, even authorized representatives of the Belarusian People's Congress. Sometimes it is more important what functions and powers the president can have rather than how the president is elected,” the Belarusian leader believes. “It seems to me that we should no way rush. I think you can decide on this under the second or third president, so that no one will accuse me again of pursuing my own interests and say that the Belarusian People's Congress will elect me because I appointed them…”.
“Therefore, for now, the people, including you [the president addressed the journalist who asked the question] will determine whether it is necessary to change the president and who will be the president. Everything will be more democratic than ever before. Remember: more democratic than ever!” Aleksandr Lukashenko concluded.
