MINSK, November 28. /TASS/. The draft of Belarus’ new constitution will be available for public discussions in the first half of December, Igor Sergeyenko, chief of the Belarusian presidential administration, said on Sunday.
"I think we will be able to study it in the first half of December, when we arrive at a final decision on several outstanding positions, which were touched upon at a meeting with the head of state," he said in an interview with the Belarus-1 television channel.
According to Sergeyenko, among the novelties in the draft constitution is the change of the name and competences of the Central Election Commission. "The Central Election Commission will be given a new name and the constitution will outline its competences: which election campaigns it organizes, including elections of delegates to the Belarusian People’s Assembly, parliamentary and presidential elections, and elections to local council," he said.
Apart from that, competences of the Constitutional Court will be expanded. "The Constitutional Court will check the validity of all issues put for referendums and the validity of parliamentary and presidential elections. And there is a novelty - people will be able to file a complaint directly to the Constitutional Court," he added.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said amid the protests that followed the August 9, 2020 presidential elections in Belarus that a constitutional reform was needed. He said he was ready to delegate part of his authority to other branches of power. A referendum on a new edition of the Belarussian constitution is expected to be held in late February 2022.