Constitutional Commission mulls over limiting president's legislative powers – state media
There is a proposal to limit the legislative powers of the president in terms of issuing decrees, Constitutional Court Chairman Pyotr Miklashevich said at the meeting of the Constitutional Commission on Friday.
“In order to enable the parliament to implement its legislative function more fully, it is proposed to remove from the Constitution provisions about the transfer of some legislative powers from the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic to the president. These are the provisions enabling the head of state to issue decrees having the force of law as well as to issue upon the initiative of the president or the government temporary decrees having the force of law whenever necessary,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes the top official.
According to Miklashevich, parliament members as representatives of people should know what people want and pass appropriate laws regulating all aspects of public relations.
As reported earlier, the Belarusian authorities are going to hold a referendum on making amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, but the draft update of the Constitution has not been published yet. On March 16, Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed a decree establishing a Constitutional Commission; the body is expected to submit its proposals to him by August 1. He also announced ‘the radical redistribution of powers’, stressing that the presidential form of government would be preserved.
It should be recalled that Lukashenka signed the decree ‘On the protection of the sovereignty and constitutional order’ in May. The document stipulates that in case of President’s death after an assassination attempt, an act of terrorism, external aggression, or other violent acts, all state authorities and their officials act following the decisions of the Security Council, whose meetings are chaired by the Prime Minister. Such step would contravene the present-day Constitution of Belarus.
