MINSK DISTRICT, 31 December (BelTA) – The Belarusian People's Congress does not have the authority to change any constitutional norms and will not change them. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement while talking to representatives of the staff of the National Applied Research Center for Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Immunology and mass media workers on 31 December, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “They berate me for trying to use the congress to extend my term of office. Listen, it's total nonsense. If I want to extend my term of office, I have every opportunity of remaining the president. They already say I want to be the chairman of the Belarusian People's Congress. Those, who are afraid of Lukashenko staying in power, should pray that I want to become some chairman of this congress. Nobody is going to delegate some crazy authority to the Belarusian People's Congress. The president shall be the head of state. You shall elect one. There shall be the prime minister, parliamentarians, and the rest.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko said that making the Belarusian People's Congress a constitutional body is a matter that has not been settled yet: “It will be part of the draft Constitution and you will have to decide on it via a referendum. I'll have you know that nobody is going to make constitutional decisions during the Belarusian People's Congress. Nobody! The congress will have to sketch out guidelines for the next five-year term.”
“The Belarusian People's Congress does not have the authority to change any constitutional norms, the Constitution and will not do it. And we will not focus on it. It would be dishonest. But we are going to discuss all the matters raised via dialogue platforms, the matters that have been unearthed and face the Belarusian nation,” the head of state added.
The president assured that the Belarusian People's Congress will proceed in an honest and open manner. “Everything will be done properly. The most forward-minded patriots of our country will participate in the Belarusian People's Congress. Not Lukashenko's cheering fans or whatever you call them… The people you will send there will participate in the congress,” he noted.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the matter of the Belarusian People's Congress is now being hyped up while the social and political situation is going through a complicated period of time.
