MINSK, October 3. /TASS/. Pyotr Miklashevich, the chair of the Constitutional Court of Belarus and the head of the Constitutional Commission drafting amendments to the country’s principal law, sees no grounds to expect that the country’s opposition will use the vote on constitutional amendments to stir up tensions in the country.
"I think there are no grounds to expect somebody to stage provocations. There are sufficient forces and opportunities to prevent such attempts at the state level and hold the referendum [on constitution] in a calm atmosphere," he told the Belarus-1 TV channel on Saturday.
In his words, the present-day task is to promote constitutional changes among the country’s citizens, "so that they are treated positively by the majority of citizens."
Miklashevich went on to say that due to the post-election situation in the country last year, the Constitutional Court adopted a special act "for the defense of the constitutional order," according to which any violent action aimed at changing the constitutional order or grasping state power will be punished by the law.
Earlier, the Belarusian authorities said the referendum on the new edition of the Belarusian constitution will take place no later than February 2022.
Presidential elections were held in Belarus on August 9. Incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities. During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police. The demonstrations carried on for several months. The authorities repeatedly said that the protests had been orchestrated from abroad.
Amid the protests, Lukashenko stated the need to amend the constitution and his readiness to delegate some presidential authority to other branches of power.
According to Miklashevich, 53 chapters of the Belarusian constitution are to be amended, and 14 new ones created. The essence of the proposed changes is to preserve the presidential form of government by defining functions of the president, the parliament and the government. The legislative function of the parliament will be fully defined, and its supervisory and personnel powers will be broadened. Besides, the government’s powers will also be expanded, and the cabinet will become more independent in decision-making within the framework of the executive branch.