Meeting to discuss bills that provide for amending laws “On the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus” and “On normative legal acts”

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko continued a series of meetings to discuss draft legal acts that will bring the legislation in accordance with the updated Constitution. Approaches to the bill on the Belarusian People’s Congress and amendments to electoral legislation had been considered before. This time, the head of state convened a meeting to discuss two bills that provide for amending the laws “On the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus” and “On normative legal acts”.

First of all, the head of state explained to the public what the matter was about. “Recently, the people of Belarus passed the new Constitution, amendments to it. The people supported everything that we asked for. It is clear that the Constitution is the Fundamental Law that forms the framework of any society in any country. Naturally, the Constitution lays out the main principles of the government structure of Belarus and shapes the country. In pursuance of passing the constitutional amendments we update the country’s legislation, adopt new regulatory legal acts,” the President noted.

The Constitution has undergone certain changes and embraced a number of new things. For example, it formalized the constitutional status of the Belarusian People’s Congress. “There is no need to complicate or simplify it. We are introducing a new structure to run the state and our society. It must be carefully integrated into the existing system,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The President of Belarus noted that the new Constitution seeks to improve the existing system without breaking it. “No way. No demolition. There should be no dismantling. Everything should be built on what we already have. An abrupt dismantling equals to almost revolutionary transformations. We saw what this led to in the mid-1990s when the country was broken. Therefore, everything should be based on the experience that we have,” the head of state said.

This also applies to the Belarusian People’s Congress, adjustments to the provisions on the work and functions of the President, parliament, and other authorities, including the Council of Ministers.

“You need to understand that the Constitution is the foundation of our life. We need to convince all our people to live by the law. I want you to understand that it’s not about me telling people to live in conformity with the law. It was not my idea. There is a lot of talk about it. I emphasize this because our people are often guided by certain individuals, first of all, the President, parliament, MPs, the Council of Ministers, and so on. They are fine with any rules they pass,” the Belarusian leader noted.