Lukashenko: it’s necessary to convince all our people to abide by law
During the meeting on draft amendments to the laws On the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus and On Normative Legal Acts, the President drew attention to the importance of improving legislation
photo: www.belta.by
The Belarusian Head of State recalled that an updated Constitution was recently adopted by popular vote, “The people signed everything that we asked them. It is clear that the Constitution is the basic law that forms the basic framework of any society, any country. A new Constitution has been adopted, which determines the main directions of the order in Belarus and Belarus itself. In the development of the main provisions, we usually improve the country’s legislation, perhaps, adopt new legal acts.”
The Belarusian leader noted that the updated Constitution does not imply any radical changes. However, such a task was not set, “During preparations of the Constitution’s main provisions, I always restrained you, so that we would not go into some sphere of the so-called ‘democracy’. I often talk about this. Thank God, we have seen what democracy is and how planetary democrats behave. Therefore, the Constitution has undergone its changes, and there are certain innovations, like the Belarusian People’s Congress. There’s no need to complicate, but it can’t be simplified either. We are introducing a new structure for managing our state, our society. Therefore, it must be carefully integrated into the system that functions today. With the new Constitution, we want to improve our system without breaking it. There shouldn’t be any breakage. Everything must come, appear, and proceed from what we already have.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled the results of attempts to radically break up using the example of the 1990s and warned, “Everything should come logically from the experience that we have, including the Belarusian People’s Congress. This envisages some adjustments to the provisions on the functions of the President, Parliament, and other authorities, including the Council of Ministers – our government.”
The President focused on a fundamental aspect, “it is necessary to understand that the Constitution is the basis of our life. It is necessary to convince all our people to abide by law. I want you to understand that it is not enough just to say: abide by law. I especially underline this, because our people often live, focusing on individuals, first of all, the President, the Parliament, deputies, the Council of Ministers, etc. It is clear that in no country do citizens have extensive or even comprehensive knowledge of the Constitution and laws. Naturally, no one learns them, and even those sitting at this table are unlikely to remember all these norms. And it is not necessary. Legislation has formed a certain way of life of people in a specific country, in particular, in Belarus. And people understand, based on this image, what can be done and what cannot be done, what is a violation of the law and what is not.”
The Belarusian Head of State summed up, “We still need to get used to living by the law. We need to immerse our people in the depth of the legislative matrix, the volume of legislation that exists in our country. Legal knowledge should be the basis for this. Then there will be stability in society. Leader – governments and deputies – come and go, they change while the Constitution creates a more or less stable country, society, and it is necessary to know the Constitution at least on the basic provisions.”
