MINSK, 18 January (BelTA) - The issues of finalizing the draft constitutional amendments, taking into account the proposals submitted during the national discussion were high on the agenda of a meeting hosted by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. The head of state asked experts whether any provisions of the draft raise any concerns, BelTA has learned.
"We need to make sure that by giving the Belarusian People's Congress a constitutional status we avoid dual power in the country. All law enforcement and security bodies must be subordinate to the commander-in-chief only, no one else. Remember, we had such conversations about that. Have we avoided imbalances here?" the head of state asked.
Judge of the Constitutional Court Olga Sergeyeva assured that, in her opinion, there are no any imbalances. Everything is balanced. The president shall continue to be the head of state. “We have not changed the most important functions of the president, constitutional functions. Moreover, the president shall be a delegate of the Belarusian People's Congress, shall take part in the work of the Belarusian People's Congress,” the judge said.
“I believe everything is balanced here,” Olga Sergeyeva said.
The president also asked whether the Constitution prescribes a strong system of checks and balances in order to keep the whole system and the state intact.
“The Belarusian People's Congress shall have extensive powers to determine the strategic areas of the country's development, approve the national security doctrine, and appoint judges of the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court,” Olga Sergeyeva said.
In her words, the Belarusian People's Congress shall have the right to abolish any decision of a state body and a legal act. “We have decided that we need this norm because the Belarusian People's Congress is the supreme representative body of people's power. Judicial decisions will be outside the purview of the Belarusian People's Congress. Otherwise we would create chaos,” the judge said.
