MINSK, 21 October (BelTA) – Head of the Belarus President Administration Igor Sergeyenko revealed to the media the details of the meeting of Aleksandr Lukashenko with the working group set up to finalize the draft constitutional amendments, BelTA has learned.
“The working group has been set up on the presidents' instruction. We work almost daily on the draft of the Constitution, which was elaborated by the Constitutional Commission. We do not work from scratch. Representatives of various structures and the expert community are involved in this work. The group comprises executives representing various sectors, lawyers, and specialists. The task is to finalize the document. There are a number of areas which need more discussion so that we could get the document ready and submit it to the national discussion and referendum,” the head of the Administration said.
Igor Sergeyenko said that at the meeting with the president they discussed specific activities of the working group on a number of issues, including the status of the Belarusian People's Congress, the powers of various bodies and other provisions of the Constitution.
When asked whether specific decisions regarding the Belarusian People's Congress have been made, the head of the Presidential Administration said: "We are yet to elaborate the approaches to the way the Belarusian People's Congress will be formed. The very name - the Belarusian People's Congress – suggests a wide representation of all layers of society. We need to think how the regions will be represented, the current MPs ... The number of delegates is also still debatable. The congress must represent all segments of society. But at the same time, it should not be cumbersome. It should be moderately compact. The group will also work on these issues," Igor Sergeyenko said.
He expects that the fine-tuning process will take about a month. "I think that by December, maybe by the end of November we will submit the document for a nationwide discussion," the head of the Presidential Administration said.
"This document is serious, epochal, I would even say. We need to look ahead, to understand how it will work in the future, what risks, challenges and threats we are dealing today and will face tomorrow. It is not that easy to sit down and write down a legal document. We need to look ahead based on the experience of the previous generations. The work is very serious," Igor Sergeyenko emphasized.
