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04 August 2020, 15:40

Lukashenko: If the society needs changes, they will have to start with the Constitution

MINSK, 4 August (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko talked about constitutional changes in his address to the nation and the parliament on 4 August, BelTA has learned.

Aleksandr Lukashenko stated: “If the society needs changes, there will be changes. All the reforms should start with the Constitution. Not with street protests but with the fundamental law. The return to the Constitution of 1994 is total nonsense. We have to move forward. Not only in economy but politics, too.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that totally different needs exist at present and the Constitution has to match them and be several steps ahead of societal development. “It should become the roadmap for the country,” the president said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that the society has not answered the question of what it should look like as a whole and in particular. “But I am convinced that Belarusians will give the answer during public hearings,” the Belarusian leader stated. “And the current composition of the parliament will surely work out such a constitution together with civil servants and specialists and suggest it to the nation.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko

In his words, there can be different proposals, including those concerning political parties, redistribution of powers between government agencies. “I am personally ready for any changes if they benefit the nation and if you are ready for them,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“But most importantly the Constitution must not provoke a political crisis, cause a paralysis of the government system just like it happened in the mid-1990s,” the head of state stressed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded that back then the country was mired in endless political debates to the detriment of making urgent decisions. The country was sliding into the abyss while the nation was on the brink of survival. “I've already given an example: criminal gangs operated and robbed everyone from Moscow all the way to the Polish border. I am ashamed and afraid of recalling how we fought against these bandits. But we cleansed them within half a year, [there were] 32 gangs in the hero city of Minsk,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “We cleansed Minsk from criminal gangs within half a year. Do you want to return to the 1990s? Do you want that? Do you want the country to be split into sectors, with tribute collected and given to the power vertical? I don't want that and it won't happen as long as I live. I fixed all of it with my own hands.”

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