Speaking at the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly on February 12, Alyaksandr Lukashenka spoke about the date of the referendum on changes to the Constitution.
Lukashenka noted that a referendum on the new Constitution could be combined with local election. According to the CEC, it must be held no later than January 18, 2022.
“It’s not the time to break and destroy, so we will act very carefully and cautiously while creating a new Constitution,” said Lukashenka.
He also instructed the Ministry of Justice to re-register the parties, which can nominate candidates for deputies without collecting signatures, during the first six months of the year.
Commenting on the proposal of his appointees to remove the neutrality clause from the Constitution, Lukashenka said that there is no neutrality, and Belarus had never had a political stance that would be strictly connected with neutrality.
Meanwhile, the Assembly delegates voted for a final resolution, which was leaked to the public back on February 11. According to the draft, the delegates are asked to vote for giving the assembly legislative status of “the highest form of popular representation,” and they will develop proposals for amending the constitution by the end of the year.
