NAROVLYA DISTRICT, 24 April (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko plans to sign a decree on the transfer of presidential powers to the Security Council in the event of such a need in the country. The head of state said this to the media during his visit to the Polesie state radiation and ecology reserve on 24 April, BelTA has learned.
A week ago, during the nationwide subbotnik day, Aleksandr Lukashenko announced the signing of an important decree. According to him, this document is to be one of the most important decisions of his presidency. The head of state did not disclose any further details then, and different “experts” began developing various conspiracy theories: “Lukashenko will give Belarus away to Russia”, “A Russian military base will be placed in Belarus” and so on and so forth.
Talking to the media during his visit to Narovlya District, Aleksandr Lukashenko explained that all his decisions would concern exclusively the internal situation in the country and would answer the question: what if the opponents of the government succeed in assassinating the president?
“If there is no president tomorrow, do you guarantee that everything will be fine? No. Therefore, I am going to sign a decree soon as to how the power in Belarus will be structured. If the president is killed, the Security Council will take over the presidential powers immediately, will declare a state of emergency, even a martial law if someone starts trouble on the border. The Security Council must make these decisions. That is why I said that I would sign a decree and determine who would govern the country ‘in case of emergency',” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
Such a need is unlikely to arise but it is not the time to let our guard down, the president said. “I have to envisage everything. This is why I will sign this decree. The country will actually have a collective president in the form of the Security Council. Yes, there will be a chairperson: when there is no president, the prime minister is acting in his stead. The prime minister will preside, but all decisions will be made by secret ballot to avoid any pressure. The Security Council, which has civilian and military members, will decide on the date of the presidential election, a state of emergency, the way to move forward and so on,” said the Belarusian leader.
Aleksandr Lukashenko added that the decision to adopt such a decree had been taken long ago. “The decision was taken at the very beginning of all these events. It is not about me wanting to surrender or transfer something to someone. It is never going to happen. I am ready to do everything for the sake of our country,” the president said.
