MINSK, August 11. /TASS/. Belarus’ Constitutional Commission has suggested considering issues related to the death penalty and the constitutional status of the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly at the level of the president, the Constitutional Commission’s chairman, Pyotr Miklashevich, told the media on Wednesday.
"We have identified three items that should be considered with the head of state taking part. First, there is the constitutional status of the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly, because this new institution in the system of state power must have certain constitutional powers and at the same time do not upset the existing system of public administration," Miklashevich said.
"Second, the death penalty. Three options are on the agenda here," he said. The current constitutional norm may be left as it is and the death penalty used only as an extreme measure.
"This provision was considered in the 1996 referendum on the preservation of capital punishment. Then, if objective conditions emerge, the issue will have to be decided in a special referendum. The president today has the right to freeze the death penalty. In other words, a stage-by-stage solution identical to that in other countries is possible," Miklashevich explained.
Also, there are proposals for establishing the death penalty only for terrorist crimes that resulted in the loss of human life.
"The third option is to raise the question of cancelling capital punishment altogether. All three variants require consideration with the head of state taking part," the commission’s chief said.
Also, the question of labor staffs’ participation in nominating candidates for seats in the legislative bodies of power will be brought to the presidential level.
"This legal provision is present in the constitution, but times change. Labor staffs are different from what they were in the Soviet era. There are many private companies. Besides, it has to be remembered that nomination of candidates is participation in political struggle. The question is if the current norm is to be preserved, or the power of nominating candidates granted to political parties and groups of citizens," Miklashevich said.
Amid the protests in Belarus that followed the August 9, 2020 presidential election President Alexander Lukashenko brought to the forefront the need for amending the Constitution and expressed his readiness to redistribute powers in favor of other branches of power. He said a draft of the new Constitution would be finalized by the end of this year and made public for nationwide discussion early next year. He signed a decree to create a 36-member Constitutional Commission on March 16. The head of the Constitutional Court, Pyotr Miklashevich, leads the commission.