MINSK, 28 September (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko opined on the transfer of powers from the president to other government bodies as he presided over the extended session of the Constitutional Commission in Minsk on 28 September, BelTA has learned.
During the discussion, Director of the information and analysis institution Roundtable of Democratic Forces Yuri Voskresensky noted that the commission worked in a very constructive, doctrinal way. "But I think that the commission has somewhat exhausted its potential, in a sense that at this stage it is time for professional presidential lawyers to pitch in. It is now the job for those who professionally draw up bills, fine-tune them, to make sure everything is smooth," he said.
"Fine-tuning will be the last stage. This is a version of the draft. It still needs to be finalized in what concerns the Belarusian people's Congress, the division of power, reformatting, redistribution. These are the president's powers, those are the government's. By the way, this is what we are doing. We are now slowly redistributing these powers,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “As President, I see that I sign some things formally. They have already passed though the filter."
The head of state cited an example of the decrees he signs on assigning colonel ranks. The relevant proposals are prepared by the defense minister. These proposals go through the State Secretariat of the Security Council and then they are submitted to the president. “He [the defense minister] sends the proposals up. He knows that personal preference in such issues is inadmissible. He knows that there is another filter up there, and that these proposals go to the president. If his proposals are compromised, so is the trust in him. In other words, if such proposals go to the top, this means greater responsibility. This is about the responsibility. All the rest is just a formality. Today the question is whether I, the head of state, should assign colonel ranks, or should deal with generals' only.”
According to the president, the same is true in respect to certain issues dealt by the government. Discussing the transfer of additional powers, the head of state emphasizes that these additional powers mean additional responsibility. “This is my position. The government should work on economic issues. The president, especially the future one, should oversee this work. There should be some kind of control,” the Belarusian leader stressed.
