MINSK, 4 October (BelTA) – The bill on amending the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus has passed the second reading in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, BelTA has learned.
On 27 May the Belarus president forwarded the bill on amending the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus to the lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament in line with part 1, article 99 and article 138 of the Constitution of Belarus. A special commission had been set up in line with article 170 of the rules and regulations of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly in order to prepare the bill.
The special commission had submitted the bill to permanent commissions of the parliament. The Central Legal Office of the Secretariat of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus had also given its conclusion about the bill. Technical remarks had been made and incorporated into the bill.
The bill had been forwarded to the president in anticipation of the first reading. No remarks had been made.
The bill passed the first reading in the lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament and received an approval of the upper chamber of the parliament on 25 June, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko said. In between parliamentary sessions members of the parliament arranged discussions of the draft Constitution in their constituencies with worker collectives, representatives of municipal government agencies, and municipal councils of deputies. Results of the work confirm the Belarusian society supports the draft and the draft meets requirements of the society.
Valentin Semenyako, chairman of the special commission in charge of preparing the bill on amending the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, presented the bill in the Oval Hall. “Discussion of the bill with voters has demonstrated that an absolute majority of Belarusian citizens support these changes,” the MP noted.
Maria Lenchevskaya, a member of the National Security Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, noted: “The single voting day is a legal practice implemented in the election legislation of many countries and has a number of benefits. Elections cost money while the single voting day will allow saving budget funding. From the organizational point of view the introduction of the single voting day will allow streamlining political processes in the country, consolidating all the political forces for participation in the election campaign. Political parties, public associations and movements will be able to put forward their demands as a package and realize them at all levels of the representative power. The single voting day will allow synchronizing the nomination of representatives into election commissions, nomination of candidates for deputies, and the nomination of observers. The novelty will make the election process more rational and will add stability to our political system.”
Igor Volkov, Deputy Chairman of the State Building, Local Government and Regulations Commission, noted: “The adoption of the bill will contribute to further improvement of the work of municipal government agencies and self-government agencies, of which the municipal councils of deputies is the main link. It is at the municipal level that the goals and tasks of the country's social and economic development are tested by the society every day. These matters were discussed in detail in constituencies and met full approval of the society. The discussion of the bill is essential,” he stated.
