MINSK, 24 February (BelTA) – Head of the Belarus President Administration Igor Sergeyenko believes that the referendum on amending and expanding Belarus' Constitution will proceed in a calm and constructive situation. The official made the relevant statement in an interview aired by the TV channel MIR 24, BelTA has learned.
Igor Sergeyenko said: “I am sure that the referendum will take place in a calm and constructive situation although there are certain elements, a situation that need to be taken into account.”
In particular, Igor Sergeyenko mentioned actions of radical bodies, which are controlled by foreign forces, and facts of real extremist actions. Among those he mentioned preparations to assassinate the reporter Grigory Azaryonok, an attempt to set on fire a house of the parliamentarian Oleg Gaidukevich, and threats sent to members of polling station commissions. “Some acted deliberately. Some got involved. Some were kept in the dark,” the official said. “Today we see that these radical bodies and the people, who are still mistaken and stay on the other side, do not need the updated Constitution and the referendum. They need only a reason to make noise and shake up the situation.”
Igor Sergeyenko wondered: “How can anyone want a future for their country, their nation while simultaneously speaking up in favor of sanctions? In favor of sanctions against their families and friends, who remain here?”
Speaking about the Constitution that will be voted on during the referendum, Igor Sergeyenko reminded that when he addressed the parliament back in 2016 Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned time had come to amend the Constitution. Preparatory work was done later on in various forms and at various levels but particularly vigorously after events in 2020.
Igor Sergeyenko stated that since the current Constitution was adopted, the international geopolitical situation has changed substantially and new risks, threats, and challenges have emerged. Economic changes happened and new branches of economy were created in the more than 20 years since the Constitution was adopted. The country's political system evolved and certain changes in public life happened. “Nothing can stay the same forever. This is why this idea [in favor of the constitutional reform] gradually took shape,” the Belarus President Administration head noted.
Igor Sergeyenko went on saying that taking into account the new threats and challenges that had emerged, the need to develop and perfect the country's political system became understandable. A idea was born to give constitutional status to the Belarusian People's Congress in order to allow the nation and its representatives to participate in the making of the most important and fateful decisions. Developers of the draft Constitution went an extra mile to avoid duality of power. If the updated Constitution is approved at the referendum, the legislative framework for establishing the Belarusian People's Congress will be worked out within one year.
Igor Sergeyenko said: “We will still have a strong presidential republic, the president's authority has not been curtailed. Yes, certain functions have been transferred but we believe it will have a negligible impact on the entire state administration system. The Belarusian People's Congress should be viewed as an additional tool in the system of checks and balances.”
The official also noted that the Constitution drafters had taken into account many proposals submitted by citizens. Those include matters concerning ideology, preservation of historical memory and truth, children upbringing, and environmental protection.
“Events of the year 2020 vividly demonstrated that we need to value and take good care of our history because history has become another battlefield. They are trying to falsify and distort things, impose alien values on us,” the official noted while talking about the Constitution's novelties meant to preserve historical memory.
Igor Sergeyenko was also asked about the presence of foreign observers during the referendum. Representatives of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have arrived in Belarus. Invitations were also sent to a number of constructive observers from European countries. However, nobody will represent the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights at the referendum. “The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was considering it for some time. On the one hand, no interest was expressed in coming here to see things. Moreover, it is not mandatory judging from international practice,” the Belarus President Administration head explained. “The previous elections – parliamentary and presidential ones – indicate that one kind of things is said during the election campaign and a totally different kind is said when the [post-election] report is prepared and published abroad. All kinds of violations are reported then. Regretfully this respected body has no uniform approaches to evaluating elections in any country without political bias.”
