MINSK, 11 February (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke about main conditions for his retirement at the 6th Belarusian People's Congress on 11 February, BelTA informs.
“There should be peace and order in the country, there should not be any protests, any revolution attempts. People should express their opinions within the scope of the law,” Aleksandr Lukashenko announced the main condition.
“If other people with different views come to power, there should not be any harm to you, the supporters of the current president. This is the second condition. Therefore, I suggested turning the Belarusian People's Congress into a constitutional body, to give corresponding authorities to this forum. If the public agreement which we will conclude will be violated, the people's congress will have the power. You will. Even without me. And the Belarusian People's Congress (it will be elected more responsibly) will have powers. It should be a stabilizer for the transition period. Do you see any other governing body? Maybe, we will come up with anything else in the process of preparing the Constitution. But in this process of changing generations, the change of power we need strong insurance not to lose the country,” the president said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko believes that the Belarusian People's Congress should be able to determine the development strategy for the Belarusian society. “This will be the law for all citizens of the country. For the head of state, for the parliament, for others. What do I mean?” Sovereignty, independence of our country, defense, combat readiness, and so on and so forth. These are the main things. Without interference in leadership, executive functions in the state,” the Belarusian leader believes.
At the same time, he believes that the post of the head of state should not be weakened. “This will not be me. This will be a different president. That is why it is not about me. There will be a different head of state, but they should be the head of state. Like it is done now, they should be responsible for the country's development. The Belarusian People's Congress should be a stabilizer, an umbrella for the whole country in the certain period. We need to preserve the country,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
He stressed that his words are not an axiom. “Maybe, we will find other options while preparing the Constitution. It is quite possible. It is possible that the population will reject the idea to turn the Belarusian People's Congress into a constitutional body,” the Belarusian leader said.
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, social polls show that right now slightly less than a half of the population support the idea to give the status of a constitutional body to the Belarusian People's Congress. About 30% have not decided yet.
“As president, I suggest and insist to give constitutional authorities to the congress. Please don't make any decisions in a hurry,” the Belarusian leader said.
“I promise that everything will be done in an honest and fair way. Do not reproach me for making anything for myself. I do not need that. I will not take it to kingdom come. My main objective at this stage is to do it fairly,” the head of state stressed.
“But remember one thing: I will not allow to destroy the country, and today I unexpectedly have many supporters, even among those about whom I was thinking differently. These are not only people in uniform [among supporters]. They did a great job. They showed that they earn what they have,” the president said.
