MINSK, 15 March (BelTA) – There is a part of the Polotsk popular assembly traditions in the Belarusian Constitution, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting timed to the 30th anniversary of the Constitution of Belarus on 15 March, BelTA has learned.
Speaking about the continuity of the Constitution of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that it is the result of centuries-old experience in the development of legal traditions. "Our Basic Law has a part of the Polotsk popular assembly traditions. Maybe, from today's point of view, it was not the most democratic one. Only men took part in popular assemblies, but they were representatives of the ‘deep people’. In the critical moments of history, they decided who to rule them, with whom to trade, and with whom to fight," the president said.
Similar powers in modern Belarus have been constitutionally assigned to the delegates of the Belarusian People's Congress. "We did it with the consent of the people - by an absolute majority of votes. In fact, we have created a mechanism that will not allow the authorities to break away from the people in the future," the Belarusian leader stressed. "We have put up a constitutional barrier against the so-called elitism, which Belarusians have rejected at the genetic level since the very time when our ancestors came under the rule of the Lithuanian and Polish elites, having lost the traditions of people's governance."
Speaking about the continuity of the Constitution of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that it is the result of centuries-old experience in the development of legal traditions. "Our Basic Law has a part of the Polotsk popular assembly traditions. Maybe, from today's point of view, it was not the most democratic one. Only men took part in popular assemblies, but they were representatives of the ‘deep people’. In the critical moments of history, they decided who to rule them, with whom to trade, and with whom to fight," the president said.
Similar powers in modern Belarus have been constitutionally assigned to the delegates of the Belarusian People's Congress. "We did it with the consent of the people - by an absolute majority of votes. In fact, we have created a mechanism that will not allow the authorities to break away from the people in the future," the Belarusian leader stressed. "We have put up a constitutional barrier against the so-called elitism, which Belarusians have rejected at the genetic level since the very time when our ancestors came under the rule of the Lithuanian and Polish elites, having lost the traditions of people's governance."
